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The  church  s 

chool  of 

citizenship 

The  University  of  Chicago  Publications 
IN  Religious  Education 

EDITED  BY 

ERNEST  D.   BURTON  SHAILER  MATHEWS 

THEODORE  G.  SOARES 


PRINCIPLES  AND  METHODS  OF  RELIGIOUS 
EDUCATION 


THE  CHURCH  SCHOOL 
OF  CITIZENSHIP 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 
CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  COMFANT 

HIW  TOBK 


THE  CAMBRIDGE  XJNIVERSITY  PRESS 

LONDON  AND  EDINBURBH 

THE  MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA 

TOKTO,  OSAKA,   KTOTO,  FITKUOKA,  SENDAl 

THE  MISSION  BOOK  COMPANY 

SHANSHAI 


Mnv  2:-  1 


A, 


rhe  CHURCH    SCHQDt- 
OF   CITIZENSHIP 


By 

Allan  Hoben 

Associate  Professor  of  Homiletks  and  Pastoral  Duties 
The  University  of  Chicago 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 
CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


Copyright  1918  By 
The  University  or  Chicago 


All  Rights  Reserved 


Published  August  1918 


Composed  and  Printed  By 

The  University  of  Chicago  Press 

Chicago,  Illinois,  U.S.A. 


GENERAL  PREFACE 

The  progress  in  religious  education  in  the  last  few 
years  has  been  highly  encouraging.  The  subject 
has  attained  something  of  a  status  as  a  scientific 
study,  and  significant  investigative  and  experimen- 
tal work  has  been  done.  More  than  that,  trained 
men  and  women  in  increasing  numbers  have  been 
devoting  themselves  to  the  endeavor  to  work  out 
in  churches  and  Sunday  schools  the  practical  prob- 
lems of  organization  and  method. 

It  would  seem  that  the  time  has  come  to  pre- 
sent to  the  large  body  of  workers  in  the  field 
of  religious  education  some  of  the  results  of  the 
studies  and  practice  of  those  who  have  attained 
a  measure  of  educational  success.  With  this  end 
in  view  the  present  series  of  books  on  "Principles 
and  Methods  of  ReUgious  Education"  has  been 
undertaken. 

It  is  intended  that  these  books,  while  thoroughly 
scientific  in  character,  shall  be  at  the  same  time 
popular  in  presentation,  so  that  they  may  be  avail- 
able to  Sunday-school  and  church  workers  every- 
where. The  endeavor  is  definitely  made  to  take 
into  account  the  small  school  with  meager  equip- 
ment, as  well  as  to  hold  before  the  larger  schools 
the  ideals  of  equipment  and  training. 


viii  General  Preface 

The  series  is  planned  to  meet  as  far  as  possible  all 
the  problems  that  arise  in  the  conduct  of  the  educa- 
tional work  of  the  church.  While  the  Sunday 
school,  therefore,  is  considered  as  the  basal  organi- 
zation for  this  purpose,  the  wider  educational  work 
of  the  pastor  himself  and  that  of  the  various  other 
church  organizations  receive  due  consideration  as 
parts  of  a  unified  system  of  education  in  morals 
and  reUgion. 

The  Editors 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 
I 


Foreword 

CHAPTER 

I.  The  Demand 5 

II.  Civic  Training  for  Childhood       ....  21 

III.  Civic  Training  for  Early  Adolescence  .     .  53 

IV.  Civic  Training  for  Later  Adolescence  .     .  85 
V.  Civics  in  the  Rural  Church  School      .     .  103 

VI.  Adults  in  the  Church  School  of  Citizenship  130 

Index 175 


FOREWORD 

This  book  aims  to  assist  the  awakened  national 
spirit  to  a  forward  step  in  rehgious  education.  The 
Christian  objectives  of  citizenship  are  presented  as 
implicit  in  the  gospel  and  conducive  to  the  highest 
personal  attainment  in  religious  experience.  Sug- 
gestive, but  not  formal,  programs  are  offered  for 
use  in  the  church  school.  Attention  is  given  both 
to  the  formation  of  right  civic  attitudes  and  to  the 
expressional  use  of  the  information  imparted  and 
the  attitudes  induced.  It  is  taken  for  granted  that 
the  bibUcal  content  of  the  church-school  curriculum 
will  not  be  curtailed  by  this  venture,  but  that 
pertinent  selections  will  be  used  and  that  the  repe- 
tition, which  at  present  is  considerable,  will  be 
reduced  in  order  to  provide  greater  opportunity  for 
training  in  the  application  of  Christianity  to  social 
behavior. 

It  is  evident  that  if  civics  is  to  find  a  larger  place 
in  rehgious  education  the  teaching  forces  of  the 
churches  will  need  due  preparation.  Therefore 
this  book  is  written  in  the  hope  that  it  may  be 
used  as  a  text  in  teacher-training  classes,  in  mid- 
week meetings  of  the  church,  and  by  thoughtful 
parents.     We  take  it  that  the  numerous  community 


2        The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

training  schools  organized  for  the  improvement  of 
reHgious  education  are  by  their  very  name  friendly 
to  the  citizenship  idea  and  are  convinced  that  the 
church  school  must  not  allow  the  present  crisis 
for  democracy  to  pass  without  registering  wiser 
methods  and  deeper  devotion  in  public  service. 

The  author  is  not  proposing  to  write  about  the 
Great  War,  although  of  necessity  it  colors  and 
stimulates  one's  message.  It  is  rather  in  the  spirit 
of  the  following  utterance  of  Mr.  Franklin  K.  Lane, 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  that  the  elements  of  good 
citizenship  are  offered  for  the  consideration  of 
church  people : 

Yesterday  the  Congress  spoke  a  word  which  will  open 
the  door  of  Alaska,  but  a  mother  in  Michigan  worked  from 
sunrise  until  far  into  the  night  to  give  her  boy  an  education. 
She  too  is  making  the  flag.  Yesterday  we  made  a  new  law 
to  prevent  financial  panics;  yesterday,  no  doubt,  a  school 
teacher  in  Ohio  taught  his  first  letters  to  a  boy  who  will 
write  a  song  that  will  give  cheer  to  the  millions  of  our  race. 
We  are  aU  making  the  flag.  The  work  that  we  do  is  the 
making  of  the  real  flag. 

/  am  not  the  flag,  not  at  all.    I  am  but  its  shadow. 

I  am  whatever  you  make  me,  nothing  more. 

I  am  your  belief  in  yourself,  your  dream  of  what  a  people 
may  become. 

I  live  a  changing  life,  a  life  of  moods  and  passions,  of  heart- 
breaks and  tired  muscles. 

Sometimes  I  am  strong  with  pride,  when  men  do  an  honest 
work,  fitting  the  rails  together  truly. 

Sometimes  I  droop,  for  then  purpose  has  gone  from  men 
and  cynically  I  play  the  coward. 


Foreword  3 

Sometimes  I  am  loud,  garish,  and  full  of  that  ego  that 
blasts  judgment. 

But  always  I  am  all  that  you  hope  to  be  and  have  the  courage 
to  try  for. 

I  am  song  and  fear,  struggle  and  panic,  and  ennobling 
hope. 

I  am  the  day^s  work  of  the  weakest  man  and  the  largest 
dream  of  the  most  daring. 

I  am  the  clutch  of  an  idea  and  the  reasoned  purpose  of 
resolution. 

I  am  no  more  than  what  you  believe  me  to  be  and  I  am  all 
that  you  believe  I  can  be. 

I  am  what  you  make  me,  nothing  more. 

I  swing  before  your  eyes  as  a  bright  gleam  of  color,  a  symbol 
of  yourself,  the  pictured  suggestion  of  that  big  thing  which  makes 
this  nation.  My  stars  and  my  stripes  are  your  dreams  and 
your  labors.  They  are  bright  with  cheer,  brilliant  with  courage, 
firm  with  faith,  because  you  have  made  them  so  out  of  your 
hearts,  for  you  are  the  makers  of  the  flag  and  it  is  well  that  you 
glory  in  the  making.^ 

'  From  the  Chicago  Herald,  June  15,  19 14. 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  DEMAND 

An  urgent  civic  duty  confronts  the  American 
church.  The  hour  has  struck  when  inertia  or 
evasion  is  treasonable.  Democracy  is  part  and 
parcel  of  Christianity.  The  values  which  Jesus 
Christ  placed  upon  every  child  of  man  have  now 
been  so  widely  heralded  and  so  fully  attested  as  the 
basis  of  human  welfare  that  every  form  of  autocracy 
has  become,  in  and  of  itself,  immoral.  At  the 
point  of  the  sword  in  the  hand  of  ruthless  tyranny 
the  nation  has  rediscovered  her  soul  and  found 
it  to  be  at  one  with  the  struggling  freemen  of 
the  whole  earth.  At  the  same  time  the  church, 
grateful  for  the  full  freedom  which  in  this  land 
the  state  has  both  granted  and  guarded,  comes 
up  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty, 
and  in  so  doing  deviates  not  at  all  from  her 
divine  mission. 

Faith  in  the  right  as  touching  foreign  or  domestic 
problems  does  not  mean  a  let-alone  policy,  as  if 
God  would  miraculously  intervene  in  support  of 
justice  in  either  case,  but  on  the  contrary  the 
heartiest  mobilization  of  power  in  support  of 
right  which  in  the  long  run  attracts,  creates,  and 


6        The  Church  School  of  Citizenshh' 

consolidates  its  forces  more  effectively  than  evil. 
To  clarify  the  import  of  democracy  as  Christian 
ethics  and  to  Christianize  patriotism  for  national 
and  world  service  is  an  educational  task  and  as  such 
can  be  most  hopefully  undertaken  with  children  and 
young  people.  Moreover  the  nature  of  the  task 
is  so  distinctly  moral  and  rehgious  that  the  church 
school  is  obligated  to  attempt  it.  Possibly  there 
is  also  a  certain  advantage  making  for  unbiased 
and  supernational  treatment  in  the  fact  that  the 
church  has  no  economic  ax  to  grind  and  is  clearly 
dedicated  to  world-redemption. 

Usually  as  men  work  back  to  ultimates,  whether 
in  personal  or  in  national  crises,  they  come  into 
the  area  where  the  church  illumines,  unifies,  and 
energizes  action.  The  mobilization  of  the  hearts 
of  men  in  what  is  right,  whether  for  foreign  policy 
or  in  domestic  reform,  constitutes  a  mighty  service 
to  humanity.  *' Thrice  is  he  armed  that  hath  his 
quarrel  just."  God,  whose  will  is  expressed  in  the 
fundamental  and  historic  ideals  of  this  nation  as 
also  in  the  gospel  of  his  Son,  lays  upon  both  church 
and  state  the  common  duty  of  reaUzing  the  King- 
dom of  God.  Taken  alone,  neither  is  sufficient  for 
the  task.  The  church's  plea  for  righteousness 
remains  an  indoor  doctrine  of  the  few  until  the 
civil  power  accepts  and  applies  it  in  law  and  usage. 
The  principle  of  brotherly  love  developed  and 
tested    within    the    church    group    awaits    larger 


The  Demand  7 

demonstration  in  the  wider  field  of  national  and 
international  affairs. 

Democracy  must  fully  accept  and  practice  the 
Christian  ethic  or  fail.  Blind  optimism  will  not 
save  it,  nor  will  wealth,  nor  "efficiency,"  nor 
brute  strength.  Only  Christ's  way  of  life  can  last. 
Men  by  nature  must  discard,  gradually  or  violently, 
every  inferior  scheme  of  collective  living  until  they 
reach  righteous  and  automatic  peace  in  the  Golden 
Rule.  The  church,  being  pre-eminently  the  cus- 
todian and  propagandist  of  this  faith,  carries  a 
corresponding  liability  to  render  this  superlative 
service  to  the  state. 

This  duty,  however,  is  very  different  from  the 
trite  practices  by  which  an  enslaved  and  state- 
owned  church  renders  the  citizenship  more  sub- 
servient and  pliant  in  the  hands  of  usurping  rulers. 
In  a  democracy  the  citizens  themselves  are  the 
state,  and  those  to  whom  power  is  delegated  are 
but  the  servants  of  the  people.  Hence  good 
citizenship  is  not  the  surrender  of  good  judgment 
to  any  ruler,  permanent  or  temporary,  but  rather 
the  intelligent  consideration  of  public  questions 
together  with  moral  courage  to  insist  upon  righteous 
public  policy.  Whatever  conditions  or  beliefs 
may  have  forced  the  early  Christians,  or  any 
subsequent  generation  of  them,  to  eschew  the 
politics  of  temporal  kingdoms  and  to  hope  for 
heavenly  compensation  or  for  the  miraculous  end 


8        The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

of  the  age,  the  situation  in  democracy  today 
demands,  not  withdrawal,  separatism,  or  heavenly 
restitution  for  earthly  injustice,  but  rather  full 
and  sacrificial  devotion  to  realizing  the  ideals  of 
Jesus  Christ  in  organic  social  life. 

The  demand  that  the  church  should  relate  her 
adherents  effectively  to  the  all-inclusive  organiza- 
tion, government,  seems  altogether  reasonable. 
Already  the  curricula  of  Sunday  schools,  young 
people's  societies,  organized  classes,  and  men's 
brotherhoods  include  the  application  of  Christian 
ethics  to  home,  school,  vocation,  charity  and  relief, 
temperance,  health,  and  allied  subjects,  so  that  the 
educational  forces  of  the  church  are  ready  for  a 
synthesis  of  certain  of  these  subjects  and  the  addi- 
tion of  others  to  form  a  course  on  citizenship. 

It  should  be  noted  also  that  such  an  effort  is 
most  timely  in  view  of  the  revived  national  spirit 
which  without  Christian  direction  may  settle  into 
the  hard  rut  of  exclusive  nationalism,  and  also  in 
view  of  the  demand  of  thoroughgoing  democracy 
that  the  efforts  of  people  of  good-will  may  graduate 
from  the  old  aristocracy  of  doles  and  charity  to  the 
finer  practice  of  social  justice.  In  other  words, 
the  church  school  of  citizenship  should  Christianize 
patriotism  and  democratize  amelioration. 

One  of  the  great  social  transitions  of  the  time 
is  that  from  philanthropy  to  civics,  and  just  as 
the  church  has  been  an  inspiring  and  guiding  power 


The  Demand  9 

under  the  old  order,  which  was  acceptable  before 
the  democratic  conscience  was  achieved,  so  now 
should  she  perform  a  similar  service  for  the  chan- 
ging social  order.  Through  the  long  centuries 
while  the  emphasis  was  on  ambulance  service  she 
did  magnificently  well,  and  in  the  new  order,  which 
calls  for  the  abolition  by  civil  process  of  the  pre- 
ventable evils  whose  results  demanded  so  fine  an 
exercise  of  mercy,  she  should  deliberately  plan 
to  be  correspondingly  effective.  The  same  love, 
heroism,  and  sacrifice  heretofore  devoted  so  largely 
to  mercy  and  relief  must  be  chiefly  devoted  to 
training  and  exercising  a  citizenship  which  by  its 
clear  perception  of  justice  and  its  tenacious  demand 
for  Christian  standards  will  gradually  Christianize 
all  public  relationships. 

For  the  sake  of  those  who  fear  that  so  ambitious 
a  plan  may  divert  attention  from  personal  piety 
and,  on  the  whole,  prove  a  net  loss  by  denaturing 
the  gospel's  moral  imperative  for  the  individual, 
certain  reassuring  facts  should  be  called  to  mind. 
In  the  first  place,  the  magnitude  of  the  campaign 
calls  the  recruit  to  utter  devotion  in  a  spiritual 
relationship  to  Jesus  by  which  he  is  at  once  and 
forever  enlisted  against  unrighteousness  whether 
within  himself  or  in  the  world  about.  He  who  will 
take  up  his  cross  and  follow  Jesus  in  the  struggle 
to  establish  fully  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the  earth 
must  seek  complete  inward  fitness  as  God's  gift 


lo      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

to  him  for  this  holy  use.  The  piety  which  consists 
in  being  mustered  out  of  the  world's  fray  is  less 
Christlike  than  this. 

In  the  second  place,  it  is  well  to  remember  that 
social  or  political  action  turns  upon  the  conviction, 
integrity,  and  ability  of  individuals.  Shaftesbury, 
Gladstone,  Lincoln,  prove  this,  but  not  they  alone. 
Every  question  coming  into  council  or  going  abroad 
for  verdict  by  the  electorate  is  subject  to  a  series 
of  conscious  decisions  in  which  right  and  wrong 
are  the  great  categories.  The  Christian  in  council 
or  polling-booth,  on  board  of  directors  or  trade- 
union  committee,  may  and  often  does  decide  the 
issue.  What  would  Christ  desire  for  the  housing, 
health,  and  opportunity  of  the  community's 
children?  From  that  public  policy  he  cannot 
swerve.  Whither  does  His  spirit  lead  in  this  reform 
of  temperance  or  in  this  perennial  issue  between 
property  and  life  ?  If  the  direction  can  be  known 
one's  vote  is  determined.  So  of  the  board  of 
directors  wavering  between  profits  and  human 
rights  and  the  labor  committee  oscillating  between 
class  vengeance  and  public  good — in  every  case 
the  decision  of  the  big  questions  of  public,  financial, 
or  industrial  policy  comes  home  to  the  individual 
to  throw  his  weight  for  or  against  Christ.  Surely 
the  church  cannot  refrain  from  definitely  preparing 
her  youth  and,  in  so  far  as  is  possible,  her  adults 
also  for  intelligent  and  uncompromising  Christian 


The  Demand  ii 

action  in  all  such  important  situations.  The 
change  that  is  coming  over  individual  piety  is  not 
deterioration  but  application.  God  is  more  des- 
perately needed  by  one  who  exposes  himself  to  the 
issues  and  hazards  of  active  citizenship. 

If  the  forces  of  Christ  do  not  stand  true,  wrong 
may  become  the  established  policy,  and  in  place 
of  the  church  Christianizing  the  community  the 
community  paganizes  the  church.  The  opposing 
forces  through  all  the  ages  are  in  contact  over  a 
front  as  wide  as  human  affairs,  and  to  crucify 
Christ  afresh  is  to  lend  one's  influence  to  that 
power  of  unrighteousness  which  nailed  him  to  the 
cross.  It  is  equally  criminal  if,  having  power  and 
knowing  the  issue,  we  stand  aside  or  desert,  allowing 
unrighteousness  to  have  its  way.  For  a  Christian 
to  neglect  citizenship  is  to  do  that  very  thing. 

A  third  reassuring  fact  for  those  who  fear  the 
loss  of  piety  in  the  melee  of  public  life  and  ac- 
tive citizenship  is  that  this  venture  widens  one's 
opportunity  to  serve  the  Master.  The  standard 
inner  duties  of  the  church  cannot  enlist  the  services 
of  any  large  portion  of  the  membership,  and  the 
more  important  of  these  duties  are  intrusted  to 
those  who  are  professionally  trained.  Noticeably 
in  recent  years  an  increasing  number  of  the  more 
energetic  and  socially  minded,  among  women  as 
well  as  men,  have  been  relinquishing  their  more 
devotional  and   passive  roles  within  the  church 


12      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

to  engage  in  civic  reforms  of  large  dimension  and 
of  concrete  significance.  This  high-minded  and 
aggressive  service  is  not  yet  correlated  with  church 
life,  and  unless  the  exodus  is  to  continue  with  more 
loss  to  the  church  and  an  unnecessary  feeling  of 
estrangement  on  the  part  of  these  vigorous,  prag- 
matic people  it  will  be  necessary  to  incorporate  in  an 
orderly  way  the  social  civic  element  and  import  of 
the  gospel,  so  that,  through  teaching,  through  com- 
mittees, delegates,  and  reports,  and  by  meetings, 
exhibits,  conventions,  and  what  not,  the  full  impulse 
for  righteousness  may  get  accredited  expression. 

When  one  thinks  what  this  might  mean  for 
Sunday-school  classes,  brotherhoods,  women's  and 
young  people's  societies,  forums,  and  midweek 
meetings,  the  possibility  of  enriching  and  validating 
church  life  by  the  strenuous  and  the  concrete  quite 
overbalance  the  obvious  dangers  of  secularism, 
misjudgment,  and  partisan  strife  within  the  church. 
Good  sense  and  the  atmosphere  of  brotherly  love 
will  rather  lift  the  concerns  of  public  life,  not  only 
to  a  plane  of  frank  and  earnest  canvass,  but  to  the 
level  of  prayer,  as  if  the  compassion  of  Christ 
beholding  the  multitude  as  sheep  without  a 
shepherd  were  again  ours,  moving  us  to  lay  before 
God  the  bafifling  needs  of  our  common  organic 
life.  The  devotional  quite  as  much  as  the  mental 
worth  of  civic  problems  awaits  development  within 
the  church. 


The  Demand  13 

It  also  follows  that  by  this  means  ''Jbeing  good." 
which  for  some  church  members  amounts  merely 

to    avoiding    personal    scandal,    might, be.  .more 

generally  translated  into  "being  good  for  some- 
thing." Such  an  experience  constitutes  a  real 
accession  of  virtue;  and  the  consciousness  of 
having  served  in  some  capacity  for  the  good  of  all 
the  people  is  a  real  bond  binding  one  to  his  Lord. 
The  discharge  of  civic  duty  in  this  spirit  stimulates 
genuine  piety  in  yet  another  way.  Many  pro- 
fessing Christians  are  laggards  who  have  almost 
lost  sight  of  Christ.  The  high-tension  words  of  his 
unsparing  demand  of  discipleship  no  longer  mean 
anything.  They  have  been  dulled  by  frequent  use 
or  blunted  against  the  set  habit  of  inaction.  But 
when  one  comes  face  to  face  with  the  antichrist  of 
mammon  in  public  affairs,  when  one  sees  the  pitiful 
toll  of  misgovernment,  then  the  nature  of  sin  is  laid 
bare  and  the  dynamic  of  a  fighting  faith  enters 
one's  blood. 

When  such  conditions  are  never  faced  and 
collective  sin  is  never  realized  the  corresponding 
repentance  which  leads  to  more  Christlike  character 
is  also  forfeited.  The  indictment  of  many  a  sub- 
Christian  church  might  well  be  expressed  in  the 
ancient  word, 

Israel  doth  not  know 

My  people  doth  not  consider. 


14      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

It  is  also  a  law  of  personal  piety  that  one  cries  out 
to  God  as  the  burdens  and  moral  responsibilities  to 
which  he  is  committed  are  perceived  to  have  pro- 
portions going  infinitely  beyond  his  unaided  human 
strength.  Has  not  this  been  the  sainthood  of  the 
noblest  souls,  from  prostrate  prophets  beholding 
their  country's  need  to  that  apostle  who  would 
redeem  the  Roman  world,  and  on  to  Cromwell, 
Lincoln,  and  the  Moses  of  our  time — Booker  T. 
Washington?  If  the  church  seeks  a  great  and 
valid  piety  let  her  wrestle  in  the  world-darkness  till 
the  break  of  day,  and  in  the  very  injury  of  the 
struggle  find  God  anew. 

At  the  present  time  most  churches  are  meeting  a 
better  response  from  children  and  adults  than  they 
are  from  youth.  The  need  of  a  piety  that  shall 
satisfy  the  idealistic  and  campaigning  qualities 
of  young  people  is  very  generally  acknowledged. 
The  docility  of  children  and  the  quietism  of  the 
mature  or  senescent  receive  relatively  adequate 
recognition.  But  there  is  something  very  holy 
and  potent  which  too  seldom  hears  the  bugle  call 
that  mobilizes  manhood  for  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
May  it  not  be  that  the  latent  devotion  of  that  great 
host  just  coming  over  the  crest  into  man's  estate 
needs  but  to  see  the  active  battle  line  where  evil  and 
righteousness  surge  back  and  forth  in  formal  and 
mighty  combat  in  order  to  take  on  the  full  armor 
of  God  and  to  fight  the  good  fight  of  faith  ?  There 
can  be  no  knightliness  without  a  cause,  and  if  by 


The  Demand  15 

adopting  education  for  citizenship  as  part  of  her 
task  the  church  can  consecrate  to  the  Kingdom  of 
God  young  men  and  women  who  might  otherwise 
settle  into  the  spiritual  provincialism  of  ordinary 
self-interest  she  will  have  improved  her  ministry  to 
their  souls  and  to  society. 

Possibly  no  further  plea  for  the  general  idea  of 
the  church  school  of  citizenship  is  needed  in  order 
to  give  it  fair  trial  in  the  field  of  religious  education. 
It  is  only  to  assure  those  who  are  properly  jealous 
for  the  personal  virtues  which  are  inseparable  from 
Christian  living  that  the  attempt  has  been  made 
to  show  that  these  may  be  enhanced  and  motivated 
by  acquaintance  with,  and  participation  in,  the 
problems  of  society's  organic  life.  Beyond  this 
maintenance  of  historic  personal  piety  it  is  very 
probable  that  a  canvass  of  opinion  outside  the 
church  would  reveal  a  definite  conviction  among  the 
struggling  classes  of  society  to  the  effect  that  all 
such  piety  is  suspected  until  the  hands  that  have 
been  kept  clean  lay  hold  of  the  soiled  and  broken 
hopes  which  try  to  pull  themselves  together  in  the 
one  inclusive  effort  of  civil  government.  This 
skepticism  on  the  part  of  the  unchurched  popula- 
tion, which  is  60  per  cent  of  the  whole,  may  rightly 
be  considered  a  demand  for  the  civic  and  social 
application  of  Christianity. 

But  a  still  more  important  demand  will  be 
found  in  the  character  of  the  problems  which 
confront  the  republic.     The  marked  trend  toward 


1 6      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

public  control  of  activities  formerly  held  to  be  the 
exclusive  concerns  of  private  persons  or  corpora- 
tions is  imposing  an  increasing  burden  on  educa- 
tional agencies.  Greater  intelligence  on  public 
questions  and  higher  civic  morality  become 
necessary  as  this  governmental  area  widens.  The 
public  schools  can  hardly  be  expected  to  meet  even 
the  intellectual  needs  in  a  time  when  every  shortage 
either  of  home,  playground,  diet,  or  trade  is  laid 
at  their  doors,  and  at  best  the  moral  and  religious 
appeals  and  values  of  public  questions  cannot  be 
adequately  handled  in  the  schoolroom.  This 
situation  offers  the  church  an  opportunity  to 
supplement  the  school  and  possibly  to  pioneer  in  a 
neglected  field;  while  the  religious  and  moral 
phases  of  the  subject  are  legitimately  hers  by 
virtue  of  a  division  of  labor  now  well  established. 
Good  citizenship  will  not  be  realized  until  very 
much  of  the  crude  individualism  now  masquerading 
under  "efficiency"  and  indentured  to  unmitigated 
self-interest  is  transformed  by  the  service  ideal  of 
Christianity.  To  bring  the  civic  interest  under 
church  tutelage  would  promote  this  end. 

Similarly  in  the  popular  repudiation  of  feudal 
conceptions  of  philanthropy  there  may  be  a  net 
loss  to  benevolence  and  brotherhood  unless  the 
arbitrary  munificence  of  industrial  and  financial 
overlords  becomes  the  good-will  that  is  guaranteed 
in  law  and  practiced  in  the  wealth-making  process. 


The  Demand  17 

To  socialize  the  endeavor  of  all  and  to  make  each 
"person  a  servant  of  the  common  good  in  the 
measure  of  his  ability  is  the  task  of  Christianity 
and  the  goal  of  civic  training.  In  the  degree  in 
which  such  education  fails,  any  shift  in  the  balance 
of  power,  whether  from  capital  to  labor,  from 
factory  to  farm,  or  from  expert  to  politician,  will 
only  mean  a  new  form  of  tyranny.  All  citizens, 
the  capables  as  well  as  the  struggling  classes,  stand 
in  need  of  an  education  which  shall  define  the 
essentials  of  the  common  good  and  energize  their 
expression  and  use  in  law  by  the  exhaustless 
dynamic  of  Christian  faith.  At  the  present  time 
the  world  needs  no  further  proof  that  efficiency 
unguided  by  the  humane  and  democratic  principles 
of  the  gospel  becomes  the  arch  enemy  of  civilization. 
The  demand,  however,  for  a  church  school  of 
citizenship  arises,  not  only  from  these  fundamental 
conceptions  of  democracy,  but  equally  from  con- 
sideration of  the  specific  problems  confronting  the 
nation.  Some  of  these  are  industrial,  having  to  do 
with  the  contending  camps  of  capital  and  labor; 
some  ethnic,  having  to  do  with  immigration  and 
the  race  problem;  some  correctional,  judicial, 
educational,  and  what  not;  but,  as  Ell  wood*  has 
pointed  out,  they  may  all  be  included  in  the  prob- 
lem of  living  together.  This  very  limited  plea  for 
the  church  school  of  citizenship  cannot  undertake 

■  Charles  A.  Ellwood,  The  Social  Problem,  chap.  i. 


1 8      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

to  discuss  these  interrelated  problems,  each  one  of 
which  has  already  produced  an  extensive  literature. 
To  strengthen  the  conviction  that  the  facts  involved 
in  these  issues  of  social  morality  should  have  a 
more  important  place  in  religious  education  and  to 
indicate  methods  by  which  the  facts  may  be  so 
incorporated  as  to  secure  intelligent  and  moral 
attitudes  in  keeping  with  the  Christian  religion  is  a 
sufficient  task.  The  Christian  mottoes  on  the 
walls  of  our  national  home  need  to  step  out  of  their 
frames  and  get  into  action. 

The  temper  of  our  entire  people  needs  to  be 
changed  from  that  of  negative  criticism  to  that  of 
idealistic  support.  By  virtue  of  the  wide  and 
partisan  publicity  given  to  the  failures  and  weak- 
nesses of  officials  of  every  rank  and  because  so  much 
comment  relative  to  public  service  is  frankly 
cynical  there  is  need  of  a  reappreciation  of  the 
essential  principles  for  which  the  nation  stands. 
It  is  clearly  unjust  to  focus  the  attention  of  youth 
upon  the  pathological  features  of  democratic 
evolution  in  such  a  way  as  to  produce  adolescent 
cynics.  The  destruction  of  legitimate  faith  in  any 
sphere  is  a  serious  blow  to  faith  as  a  whole.  The 
mere  fact  of  reaching  one's  majority  cannot  make 
a  good  citizen  of  the  youth  who  entertains  the  error 
that  all  positions  of  pubHc  trust  are  secured  by 
*'puU"  and  used  for  personal  gain.  The  history 
of  the  United  States  is  something  more  than  the 


The  Demand  19 

sum  total  of  her  mistakes.  The  slow  achievements 
of  democracy  are  sacred  by  virtue  of  what  they  cost 
and  what  they  register.  It  is  immoral  to  dismiss 
politics  with  the  hypocritical  epithet  "rotten." 
An  education  which  encourages  or  permits  one  to 
stand  apart  from  the  struggle,  as  being  thus  more 
righteous,  is  not  religious  but  antireligious.  Cor- 
respondingly it  is  a  form  of  treason  to  familiarize 
young  people  with  the  abuses  of  delegated  power 
and  to  leave  them  uninformed  as  to  those  chapters 
in  our  history  which  might  be  headed  Cuba,  China, 
John  Hay. 

The  building  of  democracy  calls  for  sound 
timber,  and  presumably  some  of  the  very  best 
quality  will  be  found  in  the  uplands  of  the  church 
domain.  In  view  of  the  bearing  of  democracy  on 
human  rights  and  prospective  world-peace  may  it 
not  be  quite  as  religious  to  select  and  to  direct  into 
public  service  those  who  are  reliable,  capable,  and 
conscientious  as  it  is  to  place  them  in  the  ministry 
or  to  send  them  to  foreign-mission  posts  ?  In  order 
to  make  the  standards  of  Jesus  operative  in  the 
normal  processes  of  society  it  is  necessary  that  his 
followers  serve  in  those  processes,  and  it  may  well 
be  that  the  church  school  of  citizenship  will  result 
in  sending  into  public  life  many  first-rate  persons 
who  might  otherwise  have  been  content  with 
merely  passing  their  negative  verdicts  from  safe 
positions  on  the  side-lines. 


20      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

QUESTIONS,  INVESTIGATIONS,  EXPERIMENTS 

1.  What  reasons  can  you  offer  for  giving  civics  a  larger 
place  in  the  church  school  at  this  time  ? 

2.  In  what  ways  should  the  church's  missionary  pro- 
gram affect  her  civic  teaching  ? 

3.  What  should  the  church  group  demonstrate  to  society 
at  large  ? 

4.  List  the  characteristics  of  the  good  citizen  from 
(a)  the  point  of  view  of  monarchy  and  (b)  the  point  of  view 
of  democracy. 

5.  Why  is  philanthropy  an  unsatisfactory  solution  of 
ills  in  a  democracy  ? 

6.  What  dangers  may  attend  the  revival  of  patriotism 
and  good  citizenship  in  the  church  ? 

7.  Interpret  civic  service  as  an  aid  to  personal  religion. 

8.  Illustrate  the  statement  that  the  church  must  Chris- 
tianize the  community  or  the  community  will  paganize 
the  church. 

9.  Mention  some  examples  of  collective  sin  in  your  own 
community. 

10.  What  are  the  advantages  of  a  good-citizenship 
platform  as  compared  with  a  sectarian  or  party-politics 
platform  ? 

11.  What  results  in  public  life  might  reasonably  be 
expected  from  the  church  school  of  citizenship  ? 

12.  Discuss  the  question  as  to  whether  the  church  school 
should  be  exclusively  a  Bible  school. 

READING  RECOMMENDED 

Addams,  Jane,  Democracy  and  Social  Ethics. 
Rauschenbusch,  W.,  The  Social  Principles  of  Jesus. 
Ross,  E.  A.,  Sin  and  Society. 


CHAPTER  II 
CIVIC  TRAINING  FOR  CHILDHOOD 

It  is  the  aim  of  this  chapter  to  suggest  certain 
forms  of  civic  training  suitable  for  small  children 
and  adapted  to  use  in  the  church  school.  By  use 
in  the  church  school  we  mean  that  the  activity 
may  be  carried  on  there,  or  that  the  school  may 
inspire  and  direct  the  activity,  receiving  reports 
and  granting  suitable  acknowledgment  for  what 
the  small  citizen  does  outside  the  class. 

If  bragging  and  exaggeration  are  not  encouraged 
there  is  distinct  merit  in  the  just,  social  recognition 
of  good  conduct  which  the  class  may  give  and  which 
the  child  naturally  craves.  The  civic  effort  of 
the  pupil  will  be  standardized  and  elevated  by 
such  a  review,  and  good- will  conduct  in  the  home, 
on  the  street,  and  at  school  will  be  stimulated 
thereby.  Observations  of  the  helpful  conduct  of 
others  should  also  be  reported. 

An  examination  of  all  the  Sunday-school  lesson 
series  has  revealed  the  presence  of  some  civic 
material  in  every  case.  Historically  this  presents 
itself,  first,  as  entirely  biblical;  secondly,  as  con- 
tributing to  those  personal  virtues  which  must 
always    underlie    good    citizenship;     thirdly,    as 


22      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

treating  some  social  problem — usually  temperance 
— on  its  own  merits;  and  fourthly,  in  the  process 
of  evolution,  as  dealing  in  similar  fashion  with 
other  social  and  civic  problems  of  the  modern 
world.  The  tendency  is  toward  modernism  over 
the  bridge  of  extra-biblical  biography.  There  is 
a  creditable  amount  of  such  material  scattered 
through  all  the  existing  Sunday-school  courses,  and 
the  aim  of  this  book  is  to  encourage  its  larger  use, 
to  give  it  coherence  about  a  sustained  civic  ideal, 
to  suggest  teaching  methods,  and  to  enrich  in 
quality  and  quantity  the  body  of  civic  material 
for  use  in  the  church  school. 

In  this  chapter  we  aim  to  make  gradual  progress 
from  the  earliest  years  of  Sunday-school  attendance 
up  to  the  age  of  twelve.  While  the  text  follows 
this  order  it  does  not  attempt  to  set  the  limits  as 
specifically  as  would  be  necessary  in  a  series  of 
formal  lessons.  If  the  teachers  and  church  people 
generally  can  be  persuaded  to  embrace  within  the 
scope  of  religious  education  a  larger  civic  content, 
then  the  actual  organization  of  courses  will  not  be 
long  delayed. 
\/  Attitudes  are  more  important  than  information. 
Reverence  is  a  virtue;  theology  is  not  necessarily 
so.  The  intellectual  concepts  of  the  child  who 
kneels,  clasps  his  hands,  closes  his  eyes  and  bows 
his  head  in  prayer  may  be  quite  fragile  or  imper- 
fect, but  the  act  indicates  and  favors  an  attitude 


Civic  Training  for  Childhood  23 

of  mind  which  makes  for  personal  rehgion.  Within 
this  attitude  of  reverence  all  that  is  knowable  of 
God  and  man  takes  its  place  as  experience  widens, 
and  although  some  of  the  information  may  be  of  a 
kind  to  test  rather  than  to  support  faith,  yet,  with 
this  attitude  secure,  the  life  will  be  ennobled  and 
refined. 

It  follows  that  the  very  blending  of  national 
symbols  with  those  of  the  place  and  exercise  of 
religion  will  bind  together  in  a  common  respect 
and  reverence  the  twofold  obligation  of  duty  to 
God  and  country.  ^' Above,  about,  within,  and 
supporting  all  is  God,  and  in  his  plan  of  protection, 
opportunity,  and_  support  for  me  is  my  country. ' ' 
The  child  may  naturally  feel  that  way  about  it. 
Both  are  vast,  impalpable,  real,  continuing  through 
the  centuries,  embracing  life,  benevolent.  Bible 
and  hymn  and  prayer,  the  flag,  and  the  loving 
memory  of  patriot  intertwine  and  embody  these 
two  realities. 

This  is  the  philosophy  of  it,  but  the  child  is  not 
interested  in  philosophy.  Concretely  his  civic 
attitude  will  be  determined  by  such  visible  things 
as  the  flag  itself,  by  pictures  of  the  noble  dead,  of 
his  president  and  other  notable  officials,  and  of 
the  large  and  humane  enterprises  by  which  the 
government  protects  and  enriches  the  life  of  the 
people.  Of  marked  influence  also  will  be  the 
celebration  of  the  nation's   festal  days  with  his 


24      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

participation  in  song,  recitation,  march,  decorations 
and  feast,  pantomime,  pageant  and  dramatic  play, 
and  visits  to  historic  spots,  monuments,  and  govern- 
mental buildings.  What  he  does  and  sees  will  shape 
his  attitude  of  loyalty  quite  as  much  as  what  he  is 
told.  The  best  way  of  telling  is  the  story  growing 
out  of  the  pictures  and  experiences  above  suggested. 

Furthermore,  in  order  that  the  true  patriotic 
spirit  be  confirmed  in  his  immediate  experience 
and  conduct  he  should  learn  just  what  the  govern- 
ment is  doing  for  little  children  and  what  little 
children  may  do  for  it.  No  doubt  the  news 
method  now  used  in  moving-picture  shows  to 
inform  the  public  on  the  vast  and  humane  work 
of  the  government  will  be  adapted  to  use  in  the 
church  school  and  will  greatly  enhance  civic  educa- 
tion. Particularly  all  that  interests  the  small 
child,  such  as  milk  inspection,  pure  water,  protec- 
tion and  safety  on  the  streets,  infant  welfare,  pub- 
lic parks  with  wading-pools,  sand  piles,  and  swings, 
children's  departments  in  libraries  with  their 
story-telling  hour,  open-air  schools  for  tubercular 
children,  and  many  other  exhibits  of  public  concern 
for  our  very  little  citizens  will,  upon  proper  pre- 
sentation by  film  or  printed  picture  with  simple 
comment,  incline  the  child  to  that  just  pride  and 
gratitude  which  underlie  good  citizenship. 

Yet  to  know  and  enjoy  all  this  is  not  sufficient. 
%/  Some  experience  of  partnership  is  desirable.     With- 


Civic  Training  for  Childhood  25 

out  doing  his  part  the  child  may  drift  into  the 
great  company  of  citizens  who  are  strong  for  their 
"rights"  but  quite  oblivious  to  their  duties.  Just 
as  in  the  home  such  help  as  the  child  can  give  is  the 
sure  means  of  moralizing  his  affection,  so  in  the 
community,  to  the  extent  of  his  relation  therewith 
and  of  his  ability  to  co-operate,  he  must  lend  a 
hand.  Unfortunately  the  usual  home  background 
upon  which  civic  co-operation  might  be  depicted 
is  very  much  of  a  moral  blur.  Whether  sturdy  or 
sickly  the  average  small  child  from  early  infancy 
sets  out  to  reign  supreme,  and  most  parents  con- 
nive with  an  incipient  absolute  and  irresponsible 
monarchy  which  bodes  ill  for  democracy.  At- 
tempts to  upset  the  order  and  diurnal  routine  of 
the  household  are  made  very  early  and  very  suc- 
cessfully. Later,  toys  are  scattered  about  and 
furnishings  are  abused  and  left  in  disorder  for 
mother  or  maid  to  gather  up  and  "set  to  rights." 
To  this  extent  a  little  grafter  comes  into  being 
who  may  exploit  things  generally  and  leave  his 
proper  burden  of  responsibility  to  the  home  govern- 
ment. 

Any  successful  training  of  the  small  child  for 
citizenship  must  meet  or  overcome  this  rather 
common  difficulty.  The  fond  way  in  which  the 
soft  parent  overtaxes  the  immature  judgment  of 
the  small  child  by  asking  "dearie"  whether  he 
wouldn't  like  to  do  this  or  that  clear  personal  or 


26      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

social  duty  implicit  in  home  life  will  probably 
have  to  be  changed  into  the  higher  kindliness  of  the 
imperative  mood.  However,  either  with  or  with- 
out this  and  other  improvements  in  home  regimen 
the  church  school  of  citizenship  must  set  out  with 
an  action  program  including  public  duty  and 
benevolence  for  the  small  child.  The  doctrine  and 
practice  of  good-will  must  become  his. 

Some  of  the  items  that  may  be  included  in  the 
civic  program  of  the  child  under  public-school  age 
are  the  sharing  of  toys  with  children  in  public 
institutions,  the  making  of  picture-books  for  them, 
paper-doll  outfits,  and  contributions  of  "goodies," 
both  on  special  occasions  and  at  other  times 
throughout  the  year.  This  work  might  be  organ- 
ized, assembled,  and  cleared  through  the  church 
school,  which  would  also  stimulate  home  activity 
for  this  end.  But  benefaction  is  not  the  only  or 
the  main  expression.  In  fact,  for  the  church  train- 
ing to  stop  with  voluntary  philanthropy  is  to  miss 
(the  essential  of  democratic  citizenship  which  is 
based,  not  upon  optional  good-will,  but  upon  the 
just  duties  of  a  partnership. 

This  great  partnership,  which  includes  the  child 
and  his  family,  makes  streets,  keeps  them  clean  and 
in  repair,  safe  and  lighted.  In  order  to  do  this 
many  people  work  hard,  all  pay  something,  and 
some  incur  actual  danger.  The  good  partner  will 
not  litter  the  street  with  paper  or  other  refuse,  but 


Civic  Training  for  Childhood  27 

on  the  contrary  will  help  to  keep  it  neat.  He  will 
not  damage  or  destroy  the  lamps,  trees,  or  shrubs, 
which  belong  to  all,  but  on  the  contrary  will  protect 
such  property.  He  will  obey  the  traffic  officer  who 
makes  it  safe  to  cross  the  street  and  he  will  keep 
to  his  own  side — the  right  side — of  the  walk.  He 
will  not  spit  upon  the  walk  and  he  will  help  exter- 
minate flies  and  other  pests. 

Such  lessons  seem  trivial,  but  the  ordinary 
pedestrian  in  our  American  cities  having  started 
wrong  in  these  respects  is  a  correspondingly  con- 
firmed nuisance,  expense,  and  liability  to  the  com- 
munity. Accidents  multiply,  traffic  is  blocked  or 
impeded,  whole  neighborhoods  are  unkempt,  and 
a  large  army  of  men  is  kept  busy  in  street  and  park 
picking  up  after  these  crude  individualists  who 
did  not  set  out  with  the  idea  of  "my  city."  Also 
much  of  the  malicious  mischief  of  boys  of  a  some- 
what later  age,  when  they  break  street  lamps  and 
deface  public  property,  might  be  forestalled  by 
such  initial  instruction  in  civil  service.  To  open 
their  eyes  to  the  labor  involved  in  public  works 
and  to  listen  to  their  accounts  of  how  sewers  are 
built,  pavements  laid,  and  fires  fought  may  awaken 
and  increase  civic  appreciation. 

It  is  probably  necessary  that  some  experience  of 
personal  ownership  should  underlie  these  attempts 
to  train  the  child  in  the  practice  of  that  collective 
ownership  which  the  citizen  enjoys.     Here  again 


28      The  Church  School  of  Citizeistship 

the  methods  of  the  home  Hmit  materially  the 
degree  of  success  of  the  church  school.  The  secure 
and  inviolate  possession  of  his  own  things,  a  proper 
place  for  their  safe-keeping,  and  particularly  some 
experience  in  making  his  wealth  as  contrasted  with 
much  ingenuity  in  destroying  it  are  imperative 
factors.  Also  some  self-denial  in  saving  enough 
to  buy  what  he  cannot  make  and  in  general  a 
responsibility  commensurate  with  his  years  and 
applied  to  his  most  cherished  possessions  seem 
necessary  as  a  background  for  the  proper  respect 
of  public  property. 

However,  the  home,  being  a  collective  enter- 
prise, goes  farther  than  the  "mine"  with  its  cor- 
responding responsibility.  It  proceeds  to  "ours." 
This  is  especially  true  where  there  are  a  number  of 
children  who  play  and  work  together.  The  church 
school  is  that  sort  of  a  family  augmented  and 
organized.  Each  one  of  these  small  children  under 
public-school  age  has  his  own  outfit,  bearing  his 
name,  and  also  his  own  place  for  its  safe-keeping; 
while  all  unite  in  holding  certain  larger  property 
and  conveniences  necessary  to  the  group  as  a  whole 
and  too  expensive  for  individual  ownership.  In- 
dividual and  collective  care  of  property  makes  for 
good  citizenship,  while  the  lavish  and  indis- 
criminate provision  of  material,  whether  in  home 
or  school,  stifles  appreciation  and  favors  destruc- 
tion rather  than  conservation. 


Civic  Training  for  Childhood  29 

Some  children  unfortunately  seem  to  achieve 
consciousness  as  a  soul  mainly  on  the  "no,  no" 
basis.  Their  sense  of  importance  is  gratified  by 
refusing  to  join  in  any  group  activities.  The 
teacher  of  infant  classes  is  familiar  with  the  type 
and  for  the  sake  both  of  the  individual  and  of 
society  will  try  to  overcome  the  timidity,  awk- 
wardness, or  selfishness  which,  if  allowed  to  persist, 
will  blight  the  life  and  thwart  citizenship.  Of 
all  teachers  one  must  most  revere  the  kinder- 
gartner  who  can  detect  and  remove  this  antisocial 
bias.     She  is  truly  serving  the  state. 

The  child's  entry  to  the  church  school  and  all 
of  his  experiences  therein  should  make  for  courtesy 
and  decorum.  Good  manners  are  a  part  of  good 
citizenship.  Instead  of  undermining  the  child's 
respect  for  those  who  by  virtue  of  position  or  age 
are  worthy  of  fine  regard,  and  instead  of  making 
the  place  of  worship  ridiculous  by  hubbub  and 
disorder,  the  church  school  should  foster  whatever 
good  breeding  the  home  may  have  initiated,  or 
begin  that  which  the  home  has  neglected.  Parallel 
with  the  smartness  developing  when  the  child 
enters  the  public  school  there  is  the  irreverence 
frequently  noted  when  the  child  attends  Sunday 
school.  The  decline  of  this  virtue  may  not  be 
fatal.  There  may  indeed  be  some  compensating 
gain  in  friendliness  and  naturalness,  but  cheap- 
ness and  lack  of  sense  of  fitness  and  proportion 


30      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

make  against  civic  virtue.  Start  the  children 
wrong  in  that  institution  whose  function  it  is  to 
conserve  the  sacred  things  of  life,  and  the  chances 
for  continuance  in  a  brazen  conceit  oblivious  to  the 
sanctuary  values  of  God  and  country  are  multi- 
plied. "There  is  no  necessary  connection  between 
democracy  and  rudeness  and  slouchy  conduct  and 
manner There  is  no  necessary  causal  con- 
nection between  an  abolition  of  privilege,  caste, 
and  class,  and  bad  manners."^  Possibly  greater 
care  in  such  matters  might  tend  to  remedy  the 
indecorous  haste  and  confusion  so  often  exhibited 
at  the  close  of  public  worship,  where  the  haste  to 
grab  wraps,  the  ear-splitting  efforts  of  the  organ, 
and  shrill  gossip  dissipate  in  one  explosion  any 
approach  to  formal  reverence  which  the  service 
may  have  induced. 

This  prevalent  scandal  which  makes  against  all 
public  order  has  as  antecedent  the  noisy  class- 
room, the  late-comer,  the  slovenly  work,  the 
scramble  for  the  best  seat,  and  the  general  fail- 
ure of  that  orderly  helpfulness  which  might  be 
secured  by  officers  and  teachers  who  would  take 
pains  always  to  be  in  place  before  the  children 
arrive  and  whose  knowledge  and  exercise  of  dis- 
cipline measured  up  to  the  importance  of  their 
task. 

'  E.  L.  Cabot,  A  Course  in  Citizenship,  Introd.,  p.  xiv  (William 
H.  Taft). 


Civic  Training  for  Childhood  31 

Advancing  a  grade  or  so  to  the  time  when  the 
child  becomes  famiHar  with  the  street  by  virtue  of 
going  to  the  public  school  and  using  the  street  for 
play  and  adventure,  the  very  important  matter 
of  his  early  contacts  with  the  agents  of  government 
comes  to  the  fore.  To  the  small  child  of  this  age 
the  policeman  is  the  government,  and  his  attitude 
toward  officials,  as  toward  law  and  its  enforce- 
ment, is  largely  determined  by  his  experience  with 
the  police  officer.  Unfortunately  there  is  here  also 
an  unfavorable  background  for  good  citizenship. 
At  least  in  all  cases  where  exasperated  parents  have 
held  over  the  child  the  threat  to  have  the  police- 
man "get"  him  if  he  fails  to  obey,  or  disobeys, 
parental  commands,  and  in  cases  where  the  child 
is  famiHar  with  Sunday-supplement  caricatures  of 
the  officer,  it  becomes  especially  difficult  to  build 
up  the  right  relationship.  For  in  the  one  case  he 
regards  the  policeman  as  his  natural  enemy  and 
in  the  other  as  a  joke.  In  order  to  offset  this  very 
prevalent  misunderstanding  the  church  school 
should  find  the  right  kind  of  officer  to  be  invited 
to  attend  several  of  its  sessions  for  the  purpose  of 
pleasant  acquaintance  with  the  children  and  of 
instructing  them  as  to  how  they  may  help  him  in 
rendering  the  city  safe  and  bringing  the  maximum 
happiness  and  benefit  to  all.  Perhaps  the  most 
important  item  in  such  a  plan  is  the  establishment 
of  this  friendly  co-operation  in  place  of  the  blind 


32      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

enmity  which  too  often  exists.  It  is  not  in  place 
here  to  indicate  the  improvements  in  the  personnel  ^ 
duties,  and  methods  of  the  police  necessary  to  the 
largest  success  of  such  a  policy,  but  the  principle 
holds  true  that  the  best  way  to  secure  finer  service 
from  the  police  is  to  expect  it  of  them  and  to 
include  them  in  the  common  aim  of  church  and 
state  to  promote  justice,  safety,  and  well-being. 
To  appreciate  and  use  the  policeman  in  this  simple 
way  may,  while  helping  both  the  child  and  the 
officer,  lead  to  larger  co-operation  of  the  whole 
church  in  law  enforcement. 

Possibly  before  this  time  the  child  will  have 
made  the  acquaintance  of  the  postman,  the  most 
welcome  of  public  servants.  The  delight  of  the 
first  letter  or  parcel  received  by  mail  leaves  the 
door  of  the  mind  ajar  for  some  explanation  of  this 
wonderful  service,  and  it  is  quite  possible  to  make 
a  postage  stamp  a  very  good  text  for  a  civic  lesson 
in  the  church  school.  Moreover  the  postman,  like 
the  policeman,  might  well  attend  the  school  and 
explain  his  work  and  how  the  boys  and  girls  can 
help  him.  One  feels  sure  that  with  this  sort  of 
friendship  they  will  not  keep  him  waiting  at  the 
door  or  ask  unreasonable  favors.  Probably  it  is 
not  possible  to  develop  the  same  refinements  of 
appreciation  in  the  case  of  the  iceman,  ashman, 
garbage  man,  and  milkman,  but  the  fact  that  they 
are  very  necessary  servants  whom  we  should  help 


Civic  Training  tor  Childhood  33 

needs  to  be  impressed  upon  the  child.  Those 
who  perform  these  duties  are  so  frequently  over- 
looked or  looked  down  upon  that  to  develop  in  the 
child  a  Christian  attitude  toward  them  is  identical 
with  training  for  citizenship. 

Then  there  is  the  health  ofl&cer,  whose  duty  it 
is  to  keep  people  well  and  to  protect  little  children 
and  others  from  contagious  diseases.  In  order 
to  do  this  he  must  sometimes  quarantine  the  family 
so  that  the  child  cannot  go  out  to  play  or  to  school. 
The  latter  privation  may  be  endured  without  excess 
of  grief  so  far  as  the  child  is  concerned,  but  the 
frequency  with  which  families  unlawfully  jeopardize 
the  health  of  others  calls  for  full  explanation  of  the 
civic  duty  of  observing  quarantine.  Here  again 
the  presence  of  the  health  ofhcer  in  the  church 
school,  with  his  explanation  of  why  the  liberties 
of  some  must  be  curtailed  for  the  safety  of  all  and 
his  stories  of  what  happens  when  the  health  laws 
are  broken,  may  assist  the  children  themselves  to 
observe  the  law  and  aid  them  in  fortifying  the 
flabby  citizenship  of  their  parents. 

Imagine  also  the  place  of  the  fireman  in  the 
church  school  of  citizenship.  The  sessions  in 
which  he  tells  his  experiences  and  intersperses  the 
rules  for  fire  prevention  and  fire  fighting  will  be 
all  too  brief.  And  yet  if  you  want  matches,  gaso- 
line, and  ashes  kept  in  their  places,  fiire  escapes 
clear  of  obstacles,  and   cool-minded  citizens  for 


34      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

emergencies,  why  not  use  our  good  friend  whose 
civic  halo  the  children  can  already  see  ? 

Such  a  method  will  be  effective  not  alone  with 
the  small  child.  One  of  the  best  pieces  of  civic 
study  which  the  author  has  directed  was  under- 
taken by  a  picked  group  of  eighth-grade  boys  who 
in  weekly  sessions  throughout  a  whole  winter 
devoted  themselves  to  an  understanding  of  the 
fire  department  of  a  great  city.  In  addition  to 
the  less  romantic  information  on  fire  prevention 
they  learned  by  visit  and  observation  the  intricate 
methods  of  the  electric  fire-call  system  and  wrote 
very  good  papers  on  many  phases  of  fire-fighting, 
rescue  work,  and  resuscitation,  as  well  as  biog- 
raphies of  the  notable  fire-fighting  heroes  of  the 
force. 

These  are  the  first  public  officers  of  the  child's 
acquaintance  and  the  day  school  is  his  first  public 
institution.  Ordinarily  the  child  hears  of  it  as  a 
free  school  and  undoubtedly  in  some  instances 
even  fancies  that  he  should  be  paid  for  spending 
his  valuable  time  therein.  None  too  often  will  its 
nature,  purpose,  and  cost  of  upkeep  per  child  have 
been  explained  to  the  unthinking  or  unwilling 
patron  of  this  greatest  American  institution.  It 
is  quite  possible  that  an  interpretation  of  the  school 
as  the  community's  largest  contribution  to  child- 
hood could  be  made  with  considerable  grace  and 
effectiveness  in  the  church  school.     In  a  word,  the 


Civic  Training  for  Childhood  35 

church  school  will  assist  the  child  to  those  early 
appreciations  which  make  all  the  difference  between 
school  life  as  an  imposition  and  as  a  generous 
opportunity  to  learn  and  to  help.  The  various 
ways  of  helping  the  teacher  and  of  benefiting  the 
school,  when  pointed  out  at  the  outset  of  school 
life,  will  find  ready  response  from  the  average  child. 
For  to  be  big  enough  to  help  and  important  enough 
to  count  in  the  rating  and  welfare  of  the  school  is 
a  compliment  which  the  normal  child  craves  and 
heeds. 

The  consciousness  of  such  importance  will 
reduce  the  number  of  "don'ts"  with  which  the 
child  who  is  learning  street  deportment  is  usually 
beset.  Helping  and  directing  strangers  will  be 
according  to  form.  Taunting  peddlers,  snow- 
balling women  and  smaller  children,  throwing 
stones,  and  indulging  the  vast  nuisance-making 
propensities  of  boyhood  of  this  age  will  give  place 
in  part  to  a  semiofficial  responsibility.  It  must  be 
assumed,  however,  that  the  play  organization  and 
facilities  of  the  community  will  be  such  as  to  satisfy 
the  desire  for  adventure  and  physical  experiment 
which  must  otherwise  be  registered  in  these 
unsocial  ways. 

From  the  civic  point  of  view  it  has  been  through 
lack  or  scarcity  of  such  connections  with  the  child's 
practical  daily  life  that  religious  education  has 
been  hitherto  somewhat  weak.     In  so  far  as  the 


36      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

content  of  religious  education  has  lacked  applica- 
tion in  the  home,  on  the  street,  or  at  school,  by 
that  measure  has  it  been  inadequate  for  character- 
building  and  negligible  for  good  citizenship.  The 
value  of  clarifying  and  standardizing  behavior  in 
these  fields  familiar  and  necessary  to  child  life 
consists,  not  solely  in  the  fact  that  it  is  sound 
pedagogy,  but,  for  our  purpose,  in  the  fact  that 
the  very  remote  in  time  and  place  and  the  very 
unusual,  however  fascinating,  in  story  form  may, 
taken  alone,  leave  him  quite  unfitted  for  social 
conduct.  The  supposition  that  the  child  will  of 
himself  bridge  the  gap  and  transfer  the  best  or  any 
part  of  the  antique,  however  noble,  to  the  situations 
which  are  actually  his  is  often  too  generous. 
Furthermore  there  is  the  constant  danger  of  so 
identifying  religion  and  its  practice  with  experi- 
ences that  are  never  his  that  he  may  never  so 
much  as  entertain  the  hope  or  purpose  of  being 
a  good  child  of  God  in  these  normal  and  necessary 
relationships. 

Among  the  lessons  of  this  early  period,  and  as 
especially  timely  in  the  present  world-crisis,  the 
prospective  citizen  needs  training  in  thrift  and 
conservation.  No  waste,  whether  of  water  at  the 
tap,  electricity,  gas,  fuel,  food,  clothing,  or  any- 
thing else  can  be  condoned  as  less  than  immoral. 
These  things  mean  the  very  life  of  people  and 
possibly  of  democracy  itself.    Probably  there  has 


Civic  Teaining  foe  Childhood  37 

never  been  a  time  of  like  advantage  in  gathering 
every  child  into  the  hallowing  influence  of  a  great 
cause.  Intemperance,  whimsicalness,  indulgence, 
extravagance — these  and  their  allies  have  no  place 
in  the  conduct  of  the  child,  who,  being  unable  to 
serve  in  military  fashion,  may  yet  serve  truly  and 
effectively  in  the  spirit  of  the  same  noble  discipline 
of  the  soldier.  The  war,  in  itself  a  ghastly  failure 
of  human  intelligence,  morality,  and  religion,  will 
nevertheless  snatch  our  youth  from  sordid  self- 
seeking,  emancipate  and  ennoble  our  women,  and 
save  our  children  from  the  wasteful  habits  that  have 
become  national. 

So  close  to  conscience  may  the  church  school 
bring  the  many  phases  of  this  vast  problem  that  a 
whole  army  of  children  will  interpret  national  need 
and  rise  to  a  great  experience  of  self-control  and 
real  helpfulness  within  a  sphere  where  duty  rules 
desire.  This  is  already  under  way  and  has  epoch- 
making  possibilities  for  religious  education.  To  be 
devoted  to  a  just  cause  to  the  extent  of  sacrifice 
in  the  field  of  one's  cherished  and  conscious  satis- 
factions is  to  be  on  the  path  that  shineth  more  and 
more  imto  the  perfect  day.  Here  again  the  ad- 
vantage of  a  spiritual  appeal  that  calls  for  action 
rather  than  for  mere  appreciation  assures  by  its 
very  nature  actual  training  in  citizenship. 

The  whole  vexed  problem  of  obedience  is 
smoothed  out  under  the  grave  consciousness  that 


38      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

we  are  at  war,  and  soldierly  virtues  of  prompt 
execution  without  complaint  are  practical  in  rising, 
washing,  dressing,  partaking  of  plain  food,  doing 
chores  as  a  military  detail,  and,  in  a  word,  accepting 
the  regimen  necessary  to  worthy  partnership  in 
the  cause.  This  vivid  sense  of  enlistment  need 
not  necessarily  vanish  with  the  return  of  peace  if 
only  the  children  are  thus  habituated  to  the  de- 
mands of  collective  living  and  effort  and  gradually 
acquainted  with  the  urgent  cause  of  righteousness 
and  humanity  which  always  needs  the  same 
chivalrous  support  and  service.  The  church  school 
has  a  remarkable  opportunity  to  build  up  and 
carry  over  for  permanent  use  this  great  body  of 
social  morality  which  is  the  bone  and  sinew  of  good 
citizenship. 

Who  can  measure  the  value  of  children's  savings 
which,  instead  of  being  squandered  in  candy  and 
needless  toys,  have  gone  and  are  going  into  the 
Liberty  Loan?  In  addition  to  the  individual 
value  of  these  self-denials  there  is  the  profound 
sense  of  partnership  with  one's  country  in  behalf 
of  the  world's  welfare.  Every  little  bank — and 
their  name  is  legion — that  has  been  emptied  into 
the  United  States  treasury  has  guaranteed  a  finer 
loyalty  on  the  part  of  the  young  investor,  and  every 
bond  possessed  is  a  certificate  of  better  citizenship. 
Every  child  in  the  church  school  should  have  some 
part  in  this  patriotic  effort. 


Civic  Training  for  Childhood  39 

Probably  from  the  age  of  eight  or  ten  years 
onward  the  even  greater  joy  of  producing  wealth 
from  the  soil  may  be  encouraged  and  directed  by 
the  church  school.  Here  is  a  great  opportunity 
to  enrich  the  summer  program  which  for  most 
schools  has  been  flimsy  and  lacking  in  appeal. 
Probably  there  is  no  more  satisfactory  and  timely 
religious  exercise  for  the  child  of  this  age  than  to 
co-operate  with  God  in  producing  the  food  that 
is  necessary  to  life.  Not  only  the  sense  of  dignity 
and  usefulness  in  meeting  the  acute  need  of  the 
present  time  is  to  be  taken  into  account,  but 
the  more  lasting  benefit  that  comes  from  the 
nurture  and  care  of  plants,  from  participation  in 
nature's  scheme  of  cause  and  effect,  from  the 
labor  which  compels  appreciation  of  the  food  we 
eat,  from  emulation  and  joint  endeavor,  aesthetics, 
patience,  perseverance,  and  the  ennobling  experi- 
ence of  adding  to  the  world's  wealth  something 
which  without  the  child's  effort  would  not  have 
existed. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  religious  education,  which 
in  some  instances  has  been  forced  into  this  field 
by  the  present  crisis,  will  make  itself  at  home  here 
for  future  service  and  that  the  classes  and  groups 
which  can  be  held  intact  for  the  summer  season 
will  be  provided  with  plots  and  directors,  so  that 
the  activity  side  of  the  church  school,  which  has 
always  been  inadequate,  and  the  summer  program. 


40      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

which  has  lacked  vitality,  may  be  improved  in 
rendering  this  larger  service  to  the  children. 

There  is  no  reason  why  the  church  gardens 
might  not  culminate  in  Thanksgiving  exhibits, 
services,  and  distributions  to  the  needy;  and  the 
exhibits  might  well  include,  besides  the  best  samples 
of  green  vegetables,  also  those  products  that  have 
been  canned,  preserved,  or  dried,  as  also  the  cost 
accounts  of  the  various  undertakings.  The  extent 
to  which  this  might  be  done  in  village  and  country 
districts,  where  poultry  and  live  stock  might  be 
included  in  the  experiment,  would  be  such  as  to 
form  a  real  bond  between  the  church  school  and 
the  progress  and  welfare  of  the  community. 
Wherever  the  products  were  sufficiently  large  to 
be  sold  the  individual  and  the  working  group  in 
collective  enterprises  would  have  the  further 
education  of  determining  the  cause  to  which  some 
of  the  returns  should  be  donated.  The  great 
freedom  of  the  church  to  experiment  in  this  field 
and  the  fact  that  the  public-school  organization 
is  abandoned  for  the  summer,  leaving  hosts  of 
children  with  all  too  little  to  do,  constitute  a  chal- 
lenge to  be  eagerly  accepted. 

Among  the  civic  benefits  to  be  expected  from 
such  a  program  one  should  include  the  likelihood 
of  directing  more  of  our  future  citizens  into 
lives  of  productive  toil.  The  number  of  persons 
engaged  in  trade  or  barter  of  various  kinds,  persons 


Civic  Training  for  Childhood  41 

whose  labor,  however  remunerative,  is  not  ele- 
mentally productive,  always  tends  to  be  relatively 
too  great.  So  also  the  professional  and  advisory 
classes  of  society  are  distended  with  fee  collectors 
of  one  kind  and  another.  The  scramble  to  get 
away  from  the  soil  and  so  from  one  of  the  sanest 
and  most  useful  vocations  may  be  corrected  in 
part  by  these  happy  experiments,  in  which  through 
the  church  school  many  a  child  who  would  other- 
wise remain  ignorant  of  the  joy  of  production  may 
discover  the  clue  to  a  happy  and  highly  useful  life. 

It  should  be  pointed  out  also  that  as  contrasted 
with  athletics,  whose  place  in  civic  training  will 
later  be  discussed,  gardening  with  its  emulation 
of  the  workers  engaged  affords  an  experience  quite 
as  useful  for  citizenship  as  the  contests  in  which 
one  party  wins  and  the  other  loses.  The  degrees 
of  excellence,  down  to  the  lowest,  register  some 
real  measure  of  success,  something  of  value  accom- 
plished, and  this  is  not  always  possible  in  athletic 
contests.  Emulation  is  perhaps  in  the  long  run  a 
higher  civic  exercise  than  is  the  ''I  win,  you  lose" 
contest. 

In  gardening  there  is  a  refinement  also  in  the 
working  out  of  cause  and  efifect.  In  the  abstract, 
no  doubt,  the  exercise  in  arithmetic  may  bring 
this  home  to  the  child.  Unless  the  component 
items  and  operations  are  correct  the  result  will  be 
wrong.     Similarly  the  working  of  cause  and  effect 


42      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

in  static  fashion  is  brought  home  in  manual  train- 
ing, where  the  imperfect  part  or  shoddy  work  mars 
or  even  ruins  the  article  as  an  assembled  whole. 
But  in  gardening  one  is  working  with  live  and 
growing  things.  He  is  partner  with  great,  mysteri- 
ous forces  whose  working  is  sufficiently  known  to 
dictate  the  gardener's  part  if  success  is  to  be 
achieved.  To  deal  with  things  in  the  making  and 
to  have  nature  register  your  mistakes  and  neglect 
or  your  wisdom  and  diligence  in  her  assembly  of 
materials  seen  and  unseen  into  a  product  not 
before  in  existence — this  is  a  very  religious  manner 
of  learning  the  moral  nature  of  our  orderly  world. 
The  shiftlessness  and  failure  of  many  of  the 
triflers,  ne'er-do-wells,  and  hard-luck  apologists 
who  are  a  debit  to  society  and  a  menace  to  the 
state  could  be  traced  in  part  to  the  uncorrected 
juvenile  philosophy,  so  favorable  to  laziness  and 
so  convenient  for  excuse,  which  places  the  blame 
upon  things  and  does  not  manfully  take  its  place 
in  the  succession  of  cause  and  effect.  A  rather 
extended  experience  with  children  convinces  one 
that  such  fatalism  is  their  besetting  philosophy. 
Whether  by  virtue  of  animistic  ideas,  attributing 
personality  to  things,  or  through  fear  of  dis- 
approval and  punishment  they  follow  the  method 
of  Eve  with  the  serpent  and  Aaron  with  the  golden 
calf.  Things  just  happen.  The  causal  relation 
between  effort  and  result  does  not  figure,     It  is  a 


Civic  Training  for  Childhood  43 

gamble.  Why  hold  them  responsible  ?  The  vase 
fell  and  crashed,  the  water  spilled,  the  plants  died, 
poverty  existed,  war  broke  out,  injustice  prevailed, 
and  all  similar  conceptions  of  individual  and  social 
fatality  in  which  responsible  human  action  hides 
or  escapes  come  from  lack  of  such  grouping  in 
moral  order  as  may  be  had  in  unsurpassed  fashion 
through  experiment  with  the  productive  soil. 

Nor  can  one  lightly  regard  the  civic  value 
attaching  to  an  actual  performance  of  the  labor 
and  care  incident  to  the  successful  production  of 
food.  Perhaps  the  best  cure  for  wastefulness  as 
for  complaining  about  one's  rations  is  to  know  by 
experience  the  labor  cost  which  the  articles  embody. 
Many  a  social  gulf  now  separating  people  into 
distinct  and  unsympathetic,  if  not  antagonistic, 
classes  could  be  bridged  here  and  there  if  only  the 
individuals  on  both  sides  knew  by  actual  experience 
the  amount  of  life  that  has  gone  into  the  homely 
necessities  by  which  we  live.  To  have  half  of 
our  population  wholly  uninitiated  in  this  respect 
is  to  court  misunderstanding  and  an  irreverent  use 
of  wealth. 

So  far  nothing  has  been  said  of  aesthetics,  but 
on  the  border  at  least  of  this  enterprise  are  flowers, 
and  no  child  having  fellowship  with  them  can 
escape  some  degree  of  refinement.  The  well-kept 
shrubs,  trees,  lawns,  and  flower  beds  are  part  of 
the  common  wealth.     They  tell  the  passer-by  of 


44      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

one  form  of  good  citizenship  which  the  proprietor 
or  occupant  of  the  premises  is  glad  to  practice. 
Moreover,  from  the  church  garden  there  will  be 
flowers  for  the  pulpit  and  flowers  for  the  sick  of 
the  parish.  Surely  the  time  has  come  when  the 
many  slovenly  and  ill-kept  church  grounds  should 
be  transformed  into  exhibits  of  good  citizenship, 
and  the  children,  given  leadership  and  opportunity, 
will  do  this.  The  planting  of  a  tree  is  the  enrich- 
ment of  the  state. 

Those  who  live  with  little  children  are  impressed 
with  their  proclivity  for  nature  worship.  For 
them  at  least  the  Maker  of  the  universe  must  be 
he  whose  handicraft  is  in  stars  and  sun  and  moon, 
clouds  and  rain,  trees  and  flowers,  and  all  growing 
things.  Is  it  not  in  the  nature  of  a  benediction 
that  their  hands  should  help  Him  fashion  some- 
thing new,  that  the  mystery  of  the  life-process 
should  come  to  them  clean  and  beautiful,  and  that 
in  all  this  they  should  lay  the  foimdation  of  good 
citizenship  in  being  workers  together  with  God  ? 

Because  of  the  cosmopolitan  character  of  our 
population  and  the  child's  quick  assumption  of 
family  or  adult  prejudice  there  should  be  some 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  church  school  to  keep  the 
child's  judgment  of  alien  races,  as  represented  by 
classmates  and  playmates,  upon  the  basis  of  real 
merit.  Possibly  at  the  present  time  there  is  some 
danger  of  fiercely  closing  the  door  against  values 


Civic  Training  for  Childhood  45 

whose  only  condemnation  is  that  they  are  not 
native  American.  It  would  be  well  for  the  chil- 
dren to  know  how  people  of  foreign  birth  say  and 
do  certain  things,  sometimes  with  more  aptness 
and  skill  than  we  manifest,  and  to  appreciate  their 
part  in  making  one  great,  happy  family  of  those 
who  have  come  together  here  from  all  quarters  of 
the  globe.  All  are  immigrants,  all  have  or  should 
have  a  chance,  and  eminence  and  honor  have  been 
achieved  by  representatives  of  every  race.  The 
eagerness  of  the  children  of  the  foreign-born  to 
become  and  to  be  rated  true  Americans  should  be 
met  with  cordial  assistance,  and  the  cheap  epithets 
which  retard  that  process  are  not  the  utterances 
of  real  patriotism.  The  neighbor's  happiness  is 
ours,  his  health  ours,  his  morality  ours.  Deficiency 
in  these,  whether  on  his  part  or  ours,  is  a  mutual 
loss. 

Therefore,  from  the  very  first  the  stranger  in  our 
midst,  whether  the  shy  newcomer  to  the  school  or 
the  immigrant  in  our  neighborhood,  is  to  be  treated 
as  our  guest,  to  be  made  at  home,  to  be  assisted 
in  all  matters  of  speech  and  custom,  to  have  our 
greetings  and  good  wishes,  and  to  share  in  any 
advantage  we  may  have  from  our  earlier  arrival  in 
this  good  land.  Let  no  one  think  this  an  easy  task. 
It  will  require  line  upon  line  and  precept  upon 
precept,  for  there  is  very  much  of  the  primitive 
in  small  children,  and  the  person  with  pecuHarities, 


46      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

whether  in  speech,  dress,  or  any  deformity,  is  the 
barbarian  whose  good  treatment  is  secure  only 
after  a  large  amount  of  social  imagination  has  been 
developed.  Probably  it  is  for  this  reason  that  the 
untrained  child  is  rude  to  the  aged,  thoughtless 
of  cripples,  afraid  of  the  deformed,  and  cruel  to 
those  who  are  very  obviously  not  of  his  social  caste. 
[  By  mutual  helpfulness  and  courtesy  in  the 
church  school,  by  helping  one  another  in  mastering 
jessons  and  the  smaller  children  in  putting  on  their 
wraps  and  rubbers,  by  sharing  the  best  we  have, 
by  giving  preference  to  others  in  occupying  the 
ifavorite  seat,  and  by  all  of  that  quiet  and  cheerful 
concern  which  marks  Christian  breeding  we  may 
preserve  the  gallantry  which  a  misconceived 
democracy  threatens,  and  add  ease  and  grace  to 
the  process  of  living  together.  The  charm  of 
democracy  depends,  after  all,  upon  the  presence 
'of_  this  spirit.  Harsh  and  unyielding  demands  for 
every  least .  particle  of  one's  rights  is  inoperative 
in  either  family  or  community  living,  and  the  fra- 
grance of  the  American  ideal  is  not  that  of  a  single 
flower  but  rather  the  successfill  blend  of  many. 

QUESTIONS,  INVESTIGATIONS,  EXPERIMENTS 

1.  Discuss  the  music  program  of  your  school  in  its 
bearing  upon  patriotism  and  citizenship. 

2.  Examine  your  school's  use  of  pictures  and  other 
emblems  having  civic  value  and  report  in  detail  to  your 
study  group. 


Civic  Training  for  Childhood  47 

3.  What  civic  lessons  for  children  in  about  the  third 
and  fourth  grades  do  you  find  in  the  following  stories:  The 
Good  Samaritan,  Joseph,  Moses,  David,  Ruth  ? 

4.  List  the  acts  by  which  a  child  may  prove  himself  a 
good  citizen  in  the  home. 

5.  Do  the  same  for  the  street. 

6.  For  the  playground. 

7.  For  the  day  school. 

8.  For  the  Sunday  school. 

9.  In  what  ways  could  your  school  acquaint  the  chil- 
dren with  public  servants  and  bring  about  co-operation  ? 

10.  Describe  any  gardening  experiment  which  your 
school  has  attempted. 

1 1 .  What  public  holidays  do  you  observe  and  how  ? 

12.  What  have  your  pupils  done  to  aid  the  Red  Cross, 
Liberty  Loan,  or  the  soldiers  and  sailors  in  any  way? 

13.  For  the  older  elementary,  grades  let  your  pupils  list 
the  public  properties  which  they  use  or  enjoy  and  ascertain 
their  cost. 

14.  Have  them  also  make  an  itemized  statement  show- 
ing the  annual  cost  per  child  for  food,  clothing,  amuse- 
ments, and  benevolence. 

15.  Have  the  children  describe  their  pets  and  exactly 
how  they  care  for  them,  or,  if  they  have  none,  their  plants 
and  toys  and  how  they  care  for  them. 

16.  Have  reports  of  a  week's  observation  covering  deeds 
of  the  following  character:  kindness  to  animals,  playmates, 
and  aged,  sick,  or  crippled  persons;  cotirtesy  at  home,  on 
the  street,  and  in  shop,  car,  or  school;  honesty  as  opposed 
to  immediate  self-interest;  cheerfulness  against  odds; 
generosity  with  reference  to  things  to  eat,  toys,  chances  to 
play,  or  other  opportunities  for  enjoyment;  neatness  as 
to  person  and  care  of  clothes;  faithfulness  in  keeping 
promises,  being  prompt,  and  doing  exactly  one's  best. 

(The  Ust  can  be  greatly  extended  and  varied.  It  might 
be  well  to  make  the  individual  child's  assigrmient  for  the 
week  the  observation  of  but  one  of  these  virtues,  thus 
covering  a  wide  range  with  the  help  of  each  pupil;  or,  to 


48      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

work  more  extensively  on  the  several  virtues,  having  all 
members  of  the  class  report  on  a  single  virtue  assigned 
week  by  week.) 

17.  Make  inquiry  as  to  how  many  of  the  children  have 
savings  accounts  and  see  what  improvement  in  this  respect 
you  can  bring  about  in  six  months. 

18.  Ascertain  how  many  homes  have  a  story-hour  and 
keep  record  of  how  many  adopt  this  custom  while  the 
pupils  are  in  your  class. 

19.  Ascertain  the  nationalities  represented  in  your  class 
and  have  a  representative  of  each  tell  of  some  notable 
person  of  his  own  race. 

20.  Plan  some  piece  of  work  for  the  adornment  or  con- 
venience of  your  classroom,  or  that  of  some  other  teacher, 
or  of  the  general  assembly  room,  and  have  your  pupils  thus 
contribute  by  their  own  effort  and  skill  to  the  common  good. 

21.  According  to  your  own  ingenuity  and  your  knowledge 
of  the  situation  experiment  with  sealed  orders  somewhat  as 
follows: 

Mary  Russell 

To  be  opened  Monday,  October  29,  at  4:00  p.m. 

The  sealed  envelope  thus  addressed  might  contain  orders 
such  as: 

Please  use  the  inclosed  money,  $1 .  00,  for  flowers,  or  anything 
else  that  you  may  choose,  to  cheer  our  classmate,  Olive  Bates, 
who  is  sick  and  who  lives  at  417  Maple  Street.  Come  prepared 
next  Sunday  to  report  to  the  class  exactly  what  you  have  done, 
when  you  did  it,  and  how  our  classmate  is. 

Your  loving  teacher, 

Margaret  Young 

(This  form  is  intended  as  suggestive  only.  The  idea 
could  be  used  to  cover  reports  on  absentees,  providing  books, 
Sunday-school  material,  and  toys  to  the  sick,  or  even  for 


Civic  Training  for  Childhood  49 

recruiting  new  pupils  to  the  school.     Possibly  for  boys  it 
might  be  made  a  little  more  peremptory  or  military  in  tone.) 

22.  Get  the  older  boys  of  the  elementary  grades  to 
report  on  pieces  of  co-operative  work  going  on  in  the  com- 
munity, such  as  construction,  paving,  water  installation, 
bridge  building,  track  elevation,  or  any  similar  under- 
takings, which  they  usually  watch  with  interest,  and,  on 
the  basis  of  their  reports,  elucidate  citizenship  as  a  co- 
operative task. 

23.  Make  an  outline  of  a  lesson  on  "Why  the  Saloon 
Must  Go." 

24.  With  a  week's  notice,  have  a  symposium  by  the 
older  children  on  what  man  living  or  dead  has  done  the  most 
for  America,  with  reasons  for  each  verdict. 

25.  Similarly  as  to  what  woman  holds  this  place  and  why. 

26.  On  the  basis  of  the  weekly  programs  of  moving 
pictures  to  be  exhibited  in  your  immediate  vicinity,  ascer- 
tain which,  if  any,  have  such  civic  value  that  your  class  of 
older  children  might  plan  to  go  in  a  body  with  you  as 
guardian.  Make  a  record  of  the  impressions  made  on  the 
children  as  evidenced  by  their  conversation  at  the  time 
and  in  class  discussion  on  the  following  Sunday. 

27.  According  to  the  grades  under  twelve  years  repre- 
sented in  your  school,  Ust  the  more  important  interests  of 
(a)  boys  and  (b)  girls  which  should  serve  as  (i)  opportunity 
and  (2)  material  for  civic  training. 

28.  Ascertain  how  many  of  the  children  go  to  the  public 
library,  what  stories  they  have  heard  told  there  during  the 
past  month,  and  what  books  they  have  drawn  and  read. 

29.  Have  the  children  state  in  their  own  words  why  the 
public  should  be  grateful  to  the  following  workers:  doctor, 
nurse,  policeman,  fireman,  teacher,  minister,  mother, 
locomotive  engineer,  towerman,  lighthouse  keeper,  street 
cleaner,  sewer  builder,  milk  inspector,  garbage  collector. 


50      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

30.  Make  a  collection  of  biblical  stories  of  patriotic  and 
civic  worth  and  put  them  in  form  for  effective  telling  to  the 
younger  pupils. 

READING  RECOMMENDED 

Cabot,  Ella  Lyman  (Editor).     A  Course  in  Citizenship. 

This  is  the  most  useful  single  book  for  the  teaching  of  civics 
to  children  of  elementary-school  grade.  The  author  is  indebted 
to  it  for  many  of  his  ideas  and  much  of  his  bibliography.  The 
material,  although  selected  and  arranged  for  use  in  the  public 
schools,  is  equally  valuable  for  the  church  school,  and  the  book 
is  recommended  as  the  best  handbook  for  the  teacher. 

FOR   THE   PUPIL 

1.  In  the  Lower  Grades 

(The  teacher  wiU  read  or  tell  the  story,  or  assign  it  for  the 

story-hour  at  home.) 
Babbitt,  EUen  C.     Jataka  Tales. 
Baldwin,  James.     American  Book  of  Golden  Deeds. 

.     Fijty  Famous  Stories  Retold. 

Cary,  Phoebe.     "A  Leak  in  the  Dike"  {Poetical  Works  of 

Alice  and  Phoebe  Cary). 
.     "A  Legend  of  the  Northland"  {Poetical  Works  of 

Alice  and  Phoebe  Cary). 
Coe,  F.  E.     The  First  Book  of  Stories  for  the  Story  Teller. 
Stevenson,  R.  L.    A  Child's  Garden  of  Verses. 
Taylor,  Bayard.     Boys  of  Other  Countries. 
Wade,  Mary  H.     The  Wonder  Workers. 

2.  In  the  Middle  Grades 

Antin,  Mary.     The  Promised  Land. 
Barton,  Clara.     History  of  the  Red  Cross. 
Coe,  F.  E.    Heroes  of  Everyday  Life. 


Civic  Training  for  Childhood  51 

Hale,  Edward  E.     The  Man  without  a  Country. 

Hill,  Mabel.     Lessons  for  Junior  Citizens. 

Jewett,  F.  G.     Town  and  City. 

Keller,  Helen.     The  Story  of  My  Life. 

Lodge,  H.  C,  and  Roosevelt,  T.    Hero  Tales  from  American 

History. 
Moffett,  Cleveland.     Careers  of  Danger  and  Daring. 
Riis,  Jacob.     Children  of  the  Tenements. 
Sangster,  M.  E.     Little  Knights  and  Ladies. 
Sewell,  Anna.     Black  Beauty. 
Washington,  B.  T.     Up  from  Slavery. 

3.     In  the  Older  Elementary  Grades 

Dodge,  M.  M.    Hans  Brinker,  or  the  Silver  Skates. 

Foote,  A.  E.,  and  Skinner,  A.  W.    Explorers  and  Founders 

of   America. 
GrenfeU,  W.  T.    Labrador. 
Hasbrouck,  Louise.     The  Boy's  Parkman. 
Kipling,  R.     The  Seven  Seas:  Poems. 
Lessons  in  Community  and  National  Life.     United  States 

Bureau  of  Education.     Section  C,  Lessons  3,  5,  6, 

and  8. 
Montague,  M.  P.     Closed  Doors. 

Gives  sympathetic  appreciation  of  deaf-mutes. 

Perry,  F.  M.,  and  Kingsley,  N.  F.  Four  American  In- 
ventors. 

Pyle,  Howard.    Men  of  Iron. 

.     Otto  of  the  Silver  Hand. 

Red  Cross  Magazine. 

Roosevelt,  T.  "Roll  of  Honor  of  the  New  York  PoHce," 
Century  Magazine,  October,  1897. 

Tappan,  E.  M.    American  Hero  Stories. 

Tolstoi,  Leo.     Twenty-three  Tales. 


52      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

FOR  THE  TEACHERS 

1.  Of  the  Lower  Grades 

All  the  reading  assigned  for  the  children,  so  that  the  stories 
may  be  told  and  discussed  with  sympathy  and  imagi- 
nation. 

Aesop's  Fables. 

Bryant,  S.  C.    Stories  to  Tell  to  Children. 

Guitteau,  W.  B.    Preparing  for  Citizenship. 

Wyche,  K.  T.    Some  Great  Stories  and  How  to  Tell  Them. 

2.  Of  the  Middle  Grades 

Barnes,  M.  C.  and  C.  L.     The  New  America. 

Brooks,  E.  S.     The  Century  Book  for  Young  Americans. 

Dole,  C.  F.     The  Young  Citizen. 

Dunn,  A.  W.     The  Community  and  the  Citizen. 

Frayser,  N.  C.     The  Sunday  School  and  Citizenship. 

Gulliver,  L.     The  Friendship  of  Nations. 

3.    Of  the  Older  Elementary  Grades 

Antin,  Mary.     The  Promised  Land. 
Hutchinson,  Woods.    Handbook  of  Health. 
Richman,  J.,  and  WaUach,  I.  R.    Good  Citizenship. 
Roosevelt,  T.    American  Ideals  and  Other  Essays. 
.     The  Winning  of  the  West. 


CHAPTER  III 
CIVIC  TRAINING  FOR  EARLY  ADOLESCENCE 

This  chapter  aims  to  indicate  what  the  church 
school  may  do  in  teaching  civics  to  boys  and  girls 
between  the  ages  of  twelve  and  fifteen  years  inclu- 
sive. These  four  years  are  generally  recognized 
as  covering  the  most  critical  period  of  development, 
and  their  right  use  is  of  vast  significance  in  deter- 
mining social  attitudes.  It  is  not  in  point  here 
to  enter  into  a  description  of  the  bodily  changes 
and  mental  characteristics  which  because  of  their 
undoubted  importance  have  possessed  an  almost 
morbid  interest  for  educators.  No  conscientious 
teacher  will  attempt  to  impart  civics  or  any  other 
subject  without  a  knowledge  of  the  distinctive 
features  of  this  most  important  period. 

There  is  a  larger  civic  element  in  existing 
Sunday-school  lessons  for  pupils  of  this  age  than 
will  be  found  for  those  of  elementary  grade.  The 
International  Graded  Series  treats  temperance  in 
three  biographical  lessons  with  John  B.  Gough, 
Neal  Dow,  and  Frances  E.  Willard  as  the  sub- 
jects for  study.  The  Scribner  Series  has  a  lesson 
also  on  Frances  E.  Willard  and,  like  the  Inter- 
national, one  or  two  on  self-control.     But  in  the 

S3 


54      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

second  intermediate  year,  the  first  quarter,  the 
Scribner  Series  provides  twelve  lessons  on  civics 
which  are  very  valuable.  They  cover  the  right 
to  life,  property,  fair  dealing,  rest,  truth,  and  the 
rights  of  parents,  animals,  the  unprotected,  and  the 
state.  Reverence  in  speech  and  conduct,  justice 
in  punishments,  and  conduct  and  law  are  also 
discussed. 

In  the  University  of  Chicago  Publications  in 
Religious  Education  a  great  deal  of  the  entire 
course  entitled  Problems  of  Boyhood  bears  a  sig- 
nificant relation  to  citizenship,  while  the  subject  is 
specifically  treated  in  Study  XVII.  Similarly  the 
Y.M.C.A.  course.  Life  Questions  of  High-School 
Boys,  has  civic  value  as  a  whole  and  treats  politics 
explicitly  in  Study  XIII. 

In  Section  B  of  Lessons  in  Community  and 
National  Life,  pubKshed  by  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Education,  Lesson  4  on  "Feeding  a 
City,"  Lesson  5  on  ''Saving  the  Soil,"  and  Lesson  8 
on  "Finding  a  Job"  contain  valuable  material. 

The  Sunday-school  session  alone,  which  is 
inadequate  for  the  younger  children,  becomes  even 
less  effective  during  this  age,  and  a  civic  program 
based  upon  a  session  so  temporary  and  restricted 
cannot  make  a  deep  impression  on  these  busy  and 
enthusiastic  people.  The  fact  also  of  a  marked 
tendency  toward  organization  and  self-government, 
appearing  at  about  this  time,  favors  the  formation 


Civic  Training  for  Early  Adolescence    55 

of  groups  with  greater  solidarity  and  more  occasions 
for  collective  action.  Dictation  becomes  less 
effective,  deliberation  and  debate  more  valuable. 
Action  and  variety  are  necessary.  The  former 
"what?"  and  "why?"  of  the  child,  which  were 
largely  in  the  nature  of  a  game  by  which  to  extract 
remarks  from  adults,  become  more  rational  and 
inquisitive. 

The  gangs  in  which  boys  find  such  satisfaction 
and  which  are  formed  under  the  urge  of  sex  con- 
sciousness, play  necessities,  and  mutual  protec- 
tion are  potential  for  great  gains  in  citizenship 
if  properly  handled,  and  productive  of  serious 
harm  if  neglected.  Ideally  the  class  in  the  church 
school  is  also  the  club  or  a  component  division  of 
the  club.  Such  an  arrangement  will  promote  all 
the  group  activities,  provide  education  in  self- 
government  and  discipline,  and  give  value  to  the 
week-day  meetings  for  social,  athletic,  and  civic 
ends. 

Such  organization,  effected  for  the  boys  and 
girls  separately,  is  favorable  to  an  action  program 
which  will  enlarge  the  group  experience  of  collec- 
tive effort  beyond  the  possibilities  of  the  ordinary 
Sunday-school  class.  Electing  officers,  determin- 
ing policy,  financing  the  group  needs,  appropriating 
funds,  appointing  committees,  receiving  and  acting 
upon  reports,  promoting  freedom  of  discussion,  and 
making  those  adjustments  by  which  majority  rule 


56      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

becomes  enlightened  and  group  endeavor  becomes 
unified  will  of  itself  supply  valuable  civic  training. 

The  effect  of  this  method  in  mitigating  the  con- 
ceit of  those  who  have  always  had  their  own  way, 
in  reducing  to  practical,  workable  terms  the 
luxuriant  ideals  of  the  more  creative  minds  of  the 
group,  and  in  defining  the  area  of  substantial  agree- 
ment that  will  enlist  the  support  of  all  is  altogether 
an  asset  for  democracy.  Also  the  ways  by  which 
the  group  must  undertake  to  inform  itself  by  refer- 
ence to  committees  and  by  awaiting  reports  mean 
much  for  social  and  civic  sanity.  The  rudiments 
of  parliamentary  procedure  can  be  mastered  only 
in  some  such  way  as  this. 

Substantial  gains  in  Sunday-school  discipline 
also  follow  these  attempts  at  self-government. 
The  esprit  de  corps  attained  in  the  conduct  of  social 
and  athletic  affairs  carries  over  to  the  Sunday 
session,  and  the  club  adviser,  who  is  also  the  teacher 
of  the  class,  holds  his  position  by  its  choice  and  as 
one  of  its  number.  In  contrast  with  the  old  situa- 
tion, where  the  teacher  was  a  sort  of  enemy  alien, 
he  is  now  a  friendly  ally,  while  success  or  failure 
depends  upon  the  class  as  such.  For  the  individual 
pupil  the  disciplinary  effect  of  the  judgment  of  his 
peers  is  far  greater  than  that  of  his  elders,  however 
wise.     Discipline  becomes  automatic  and  social. 

However,  it  should  be  emphasized  that  the 
teacher  who  expects  these  happy  Sunday  experi- 


Civic  Training  for  Early  Adolescence    57 

ences  and  this  growth  of  his  pupils  in  good  citizen- 
ship must  be  bound  into  the  Hfe  of  the  group  by 
sharing  fully  in  the  athletic  victories  and  defeats, 
the  social  pastimes  and  specialties,  whether  of 
collecting,  hiking,  camping,  or  what  not,  which 
constitute  the  apperceptive  mass  and  the  social 
cement  of  his  little  commonwealth.  If  this  "we" 
consciousness  is  not  inclusive  of  the  teacher  by 
virtue  of  the  fact  that  he  or  she  will  not  or  cannot 
pay  the  price  in  generous  self-giving,  then  all  the 
discomforts  of  the  superimposed  official  may  be 
expected,  and  the  pupils  are  expert  in  this  matter, 
having  a  range  that  runs  all  the  way  from  inatten- 
tion, through  comedy,  to  collective  opposition. 

For  boys  the  simplest  and  most  effective  form 
of  the  class-club  organization  for  citizenship  is 
the  Boy  Scouts  of  America.  No  other  movement 
compares  with  this  in  locating  and  using  the  inter- 
est centers  of  boy  life,  in  stimulating  and  stand- 
ardizing civic  conduct,  and  in  bringing  about 
co-operation  with  the  church.  If  the  boy's  "be- 
longing" were  confined  to  but  one  organization 
and  his  library  to  but  one  book,  his  future  as  a 
citizen  would  be  bright  by  virtue  of  his  scout 
membership  alone  and  his  civic  education  superior 
through  his  possession  and  use  of  the  best  existing 
book  on  citizenship — the  official  Handbook  for  Boys. 
It  is  a  very  remarkable  thing  that  the  most  suc- 
cessful pedagogy  for  this  age  and  the  most  virile 


58      The  Church  School  of  CiTizENSHn> 

religion  also  should  have  been  supplied,  not  from 
the  formal  institutions  school  and  church,  as  such, 
but  by  an  outside  movement  with  no  canons  to 
defend  and  only  boy  nature  to  dictate  its  policies. 
Happily,  however,  there  is  not  the  slightest  an- 
tagonism between  the  scout  movement  and 
methods  and  the  historic  organizations  which  are 
making  generous  use  of  all  its  privileges. 

Before  indicating  the  details  of  co-operation 
between  the  church  school  and  the  scout  troop  it 
may  be  well  to  consider  some  of  the  elements  of 
scouting  that  have  a  direct  bearing  on  training  for 
citizenship.  First  among  these  is  the  avowed 
purpose  of  the  movement. 

The  Boy  Scouts  of  America  is  a  corporation  formed  by  a 
group  of  men  who  are  anxious  that  the  boys  of  America 
should  come  under  the  influence  of  this  movement  and  be 
built  up  in  all  that  goes  to  make  character  and  citizenship. 
....  A  scout  knows  his  city  as  well  as  he  knows  the  trails 
in  the  forest.  He  can  guide  a  stranger  wherever  he  desires 
to  go,  and  this  knowledge  of  short  cuts  saves  him  many 
needless  steps.  He  knows  where  the  police  stations  are 
located,  where  the  fire-alarm  boxes  are  placed,  where  the 
nearest  doctor  lives,  where  the  hospitals  are,  and  which  is 
the  quickest  way  to  reach  them.  He  knows  the  names 
of  the  city  officials  and  the  nature  of  their  duties.  A  scout 
is  proud  of  his  city  and  freely  offers  his  services  when  he 
can  help. 

A  scout  is  a  patriot  and  is  always  ready  to  serve  his 
country  at  a  minute's  notice.  He  loves  Old  Glory  and 
knows  the  proper  forms  of  offering  it  respect.    He  never 


Civic  Training  for  Early  Adolescence    59 

permits  its  folds  to  touch  the  ground.  He  knows  how  his 
country  is  governed  and  who  are  the  men  in  high  authority. 
He  desires  a  strong  body,  an  alert  mind,  and  an  uncon- 
querable spirit,  so  that  he  may  serve  his  country  in  any 
need.  He  patterns  his  life  after  those  of  great  Americans 
who  have  had  a  high  sense  of  duty  and  who  have  served  the 
nation  well. 

A  scout  chooses  as  his  motto  "Be  Prepared,"  and  he 
seeks  to  prepare  himself  for  anything — to  rescue  a  com- 
panion, to  ford  a  stream,  to  gather  firewood,  to  help 
strangers,  to  distinguish  right  from  wrong,  to  serve  his 
feUowmen,  his  country,  and  his  God — always  to  "Be 
Prepared."^ 

The  great  aim  of  the  Boy  Scouts  of  America  is  to  make 
every  boy  scout  a  better  citizen.  It  aims  to  touch  him 
physically— in  the  camp  craft  and  woodcraft  of  the  outdoor 
life  in  order  that  he  may  have  strength  in  after-days  to  give 
the  best  he  has  to  the  city  and  community  in  which  he  lives 
as  well  as  to  the  nation  of  which  he  is  a  part.  It  seeks  to 
develop  him  by  observation  and  the  knowing  of  things  far 
and  near,  so  that  later  on  when  he  enters  business  life  he 
may  be  alert  and  keen  and  so  be  able  to  add  to  the  wealth 
of  the  nation.  It  teaches  him  chivalry  and  unselfishness, 
duty,  charity,  thrift,  and  loyalty,  so  that  no  matter  what 
should  happen  in  the  business,  or  social,  or  national  life, 
he  may  always  be  a  true  gentleman,  seeking  to  give  sym- 
pathy, help,  encouragement,  and  good  cheer  to  those  about 
him.  It  teaches  him  life-saving  in  order  that  he  may  be 
able  in  dire  accidents  and  peril  by  land  and  sea  to  know 
just  what  to  do  to  relieve  others  of  suffering.  It  teaches 
him  endurance  in  order  that  he  may  guard  his  health  by 
being  temperate,  eating  pure  food,  keeping  himself  clean, 
so  that  being  possessed  of  good  health  he  may  be  always 

'  Handbook  for  Boys,  pp.  v,  xii. 


6o      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

ready  to  serve  his  country  in  the  hour  of  her  need.  It 
teaches  him  patriotism  by  telling  him  about  the  country 
he  Uves  in,  her  history,  her  army  and  navy,  in  order  that  he 
may  become  a  good  citizen  and  do  those  things  which  every 
citizen  ought  to  do  to  make  the  community  and  land  that 
he  lives  in  the  best  community  and  land  in  the  world. 

Good  citizenship  means  to  the  boy  scout  not  merely  the 
doing  of  things  which  he  ought  to  do  when  he  becomes  a 
man,  such  as  voting,  keeping  the  law,  and  paying  his  taxes, 
but  the  looking  for  opportunities  to  do  good  turns  by 
safeguarding  the  interests  of  the  community  and  by  the 
giving  of  himself  in  unselfish  service  to  the  town  or  city 
and  even  the  nation  of  which  he  is  a  part.  It  means  that 
he  will  seek  public  office  when  the  public  office  needs  him. 
It  means  that  he  will  stand  for  the  equal  opportunity  and 
justice  which  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  Con- 
stitution guarantee.  It  means  that  in  every  duty  of  life 
he  may  be  on  the  right  side  and  loyal  to  the  best  interests 
of  the  state  and  nation.  By  the  "good  turn"  that  he  does 
daily  as  a  boy  scout  he  is  training  himself  for  the  unselfish 
service  that  our  cities  and  land  need  so  much.' 

So  successful  has  the  movement  been  in  carrying 
out  these  aims  with  its  two  hundred  thousand 
members  in  this  country  that  Congress  has  granted 
it  a  federal  charter  of  incorporation  and  the 
United  States  government  receives  its  reports 
annually  and  has  intrusted  the  boys  with  large  and 
serious  duties  in  the  sale  of  Liberty  Bonds,  in  coast 
patrol,  conservation,  and  food  production,  and  in 
many  other  ways.  Prominent  educators  such  as 
President  Emeritus  Eliot  and  President  Lowell,  of 

'  Handbook  for  Boys,  pp.  ii,  12. 


Civic  Training  for  Early  Adolescence     6i 

Harvard,  Dean  Russell,  of  Columbia,  President 
Hadley,  of  Yale,  and  many  others  have  given  it 
hearty  indorsement,  while  among  its  officers  and 
outspoken  in  its  behalf  will  be  found  such  statesmen 
as  Roosevelt,  Taft,  Wilson,  Secretary  Baker,  and 
Major- General  Wood. 

Of  the  scout  troops  20  per  cent  will  be  found  in 
communities  of  less  than  1,000  population,  5,102 
troops  are  connected  with  religious  organizations, 
and  there  are  2,000  clergymen  serving  as  scout 
masters.  For  the  year  19 16  the  administrative 
expense  was  $135,484.67  and  there  were  54,345 
men  over  twenty-one  years  of  age  rendering 
voluntary  service.  Of  these,  8,970  were  scout 
masters.  The  local  councils  are  composed  of 
leaders  in  business,  religion,  and  education.  Mem- 
bership in  the  governing  body  of  the  Boy  Scouts  of 
America  is  restricted  to  citizens  of  the  United 
States. 

The  attitude  of  the  movement  toward  religion  is 
not  merely  passive  and  tolerant.  While  encour- 
aging loyalty  to  one's  religious  group,  whether 
Jewish,  Roman  Catholic,  or  Protestant,  it  at  the 
same  time  specifically  enforces  the  importance  of 
the  religious  element  in  the  training  of  the  boy. 
Men  who  are  to  receive  certificates  of  leadership 
in  carrying  out  the  scout  program  must  subscribe 
to  the  provision  in  the  Constitution,  By-Laws,  and 
Scout  Oath  "specifically  recognizing  an  obhgation 


62      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

to  God  as  the  ruling  and  leading  power  in  the 
universe."  At  the  same  time  the  movement  is 
absolutely  non-sectarian. 

The  scout  oath  is  as  follows: 

On  my  honor  I  will  do  my  best : 

1.  To  do  my  duty  to  God  and  my  country,  and  to  obey 
the  scout  law. 

2.  To  help  other  people  at  all  times. 

3.  To  keep  myself  physically  strong,  mentally  awake, 
and  morally  straight. 

The  scout  law  states: 

1.  A  scout  is  trustworthy.  A  scout's  honor  is  to  be 
trusted.  If  he  were  to  violate  his  honor  by  telling  a  lie, 
or  by  cheating,  or  by  not  doing  exactly  a  given  task,  when 
trusted  on  his  honor,  he  may  be  directed  to  hand  over  his 
scout  badge. 

2.  A  scout  is  loyal.  He  is  loyal  to  all  to  whom  loyalty  is 
due:   his  scout  leader,  his  home,  and  parents  and  country. 

3.  A  scout  is  helpful.  He  must  be  prepared  at  any 
time  to  save  life,  help  injured  persons,  and  share  the 
home  duties.  He  must  do  at  least  one  good  turn  to  somebody 
every  day. 

4.  A  scout  is  friendly.  He  is  a  friend  to  all  and  a  brother 
to  every  other  scout. 

5.  A  scout  is  courteous.  He  is  pohte  to  all,  especially  to 
women,  children,  old  people,  and  the  weak  and  helpless. 
He  must  not  take  pay  for  being  helpful  or  courteous. 

6.  A  scout  is  kind.  He  is  a  friend  to  animals.  He  will 
not  kill  nor  hurt  any  living  creature  needlessly,  but  will 
strive  to  save  and  protect  all  harmless  Ufe. 

7.  A  scout  is  obedient.  He  obeys  his  parents,  scout 
master,  patrol  leader,  and  all  other  duly  constituted  author- 
ities. 


Civic  Training  for  Early  Adolescence    63 

8.  A  scout  is  cheerful.  He  smiles  whenever  he  can.  His 
obedience  to  orders  is  prompt  and  cheery.  He  never  shirks 
nor  grumbles  at  hardships. 

9.  A  scout  is  thrifty.  He  does  not  wantonly  destroy 
property.  He  works  faithfully,  wastes  nothing,  and  makes 
the  best  use  of  his  opportunities.  He  saves  his  money  so 
that  he  may  pay  his  own  way,  be  generous  to  those  in  need, 
and  helpful  to  worthy  objects.  He  may  work  for  pay  but 
must  not  receive  tips  for  courtesies  or  good  turns. 

10.  A  scout  is  brave.  He  has  the  courage  to  face  danger 
in  spite  of  fear  and  to  stand  up  for  the  right  against  the 
coaxings  of  friends  or  the  jeers  or  threats  of  enemies,  and 
defeat  does  not  down  him. 

11.  ^  scout  is  clean.  He  keeps  clean  in  body  and 
thought,  stands  for  clean  speech,  clean  sport,  clean  habits, 
and  travels  with  a  clean  crowd. 

12.  A  scout  is  reverent.  He  is  reverent  toward  God.  He 
is  faithful  in  his  religious  duties  and  respects  the  convictions 
of  others  in  matters  of  custom  and  religion.' 

It  is  not  necessary  to  go  into  the  details  of  organ- 
ization here  or  to  indicate  how  these  ideals  are 
implanted  in  the  neuro-muscular  system  of  the 
boy  by  performance.  In  fact,  all  is  action.  There 
is  not  a  ''preachy"  thing  in  the  system.  Merit  is 
objective,  and  of  the  fifty-eight  classes  of  activity 
in  which  merit  badges  may  be  won  all  have  civic 
value,  but  more  noticeably  agriculture,  architec- 
ture, art,  athletics,  aviation,  bird-study,  bugling, 
camping,  civics,  conservation,  craftsmanship,  fire- 
manship,  first  aid,  forestry,  gardening,  interpreting, 

^Handbook  for  Boys,  pp.  32-34. 


64      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

life-saving,  marksmanship,  pathfinding,  personal 
health,  pioneering,  pubHc  health,  safety  first, 
signaling,  and  surveying.  In  1916,  14,947  merit 
badges  were  awarded.  This  fact,  however,  is  no 
adequate  measure  of  the  effect  of  scouting  on  the 
boyhood  of  the  country.  The  whole  fraternity 
and  a  large  number  of  boys  not  included  in  the 
membership  feel  the  pull  of  wholesome  civic  ideals 
and  engage  in  the  fascinating  program. 

Reports  constantly  coming  in  from  commu- 
nities all  over  the  land  show  wonderful  activity 
in  clean-up  campaigns,  animal  protection,  aiding 
police,  assisting  the  Red  Cross,  rescuing  the  drown- 
ing, exterminating  flies  and  mosquitoes,  fire  preven- 
tion, and  neighborhood  surveys.  In  connection 
with  the  fiftieth  annual  encampment  of  the  G.A.R. 
at  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  the  following  resolu- 
tion was  passed : 

Whereas,  The  organization  of  Boy  Scouts  has  rendered 
a  unique  and  useful  service  to  the  G.A.R.  on  the  occasion 
of  the  fiftieth  encampment ;  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  a  proper  recognition  of  the  service  be 
made  and  that  the  commander-in-chief  be  authorized  to 
appoint  a  committee  of  three  who  shall  have  power  to  select 
and  secure  appropriate  medals  for  presentation  to  the  Boy 
Scouts  of  Kansas  City  in  grateful  appreciation  of  their 
efficient  service. 

Incidentally  the  movement  is  enlisting  the 
finest  type  of  business  and  professional  men  in 
giving  a  very  personal  form  of  social  service  and  in 


Civic  Training  for  Early  Adolescence    65 

rendering  such  aid  to  the  nation  as  has  not  been 
commonly  the  practice  of  our  most  efficient  men. 
The  reflex  benefit  to  the  manhood  engaged  in  this 
remarkable  work  with  boys  is  not  the  least  of  its 
assets. 

In  addition  to  the  bonds  which  bind  this  great 
army  of  boys  together,  such  as  motto,  badges,  uni- 
form, oath,  and  law,  there  is  an  unexcelled  boys' 
magazine  known  as  Boys''  Life,  having  a  monthly 
circulation  of  100,000  copies.  Taken  all  in  all  the 
church  school  that  intends  to  teach  citizenship 
could  not  ask  any  better  device  for  its  twelve- 
to  fifteen-year-old  boys  than  the  Boy  Scouts  of 
America. 

The  scout's  observations,  which  tend  to  become 
remarkably  keen  and  accurate,  and  his  under- 
takings in  all  phases  of  good  citizenship  will 
furnish  better  material  for  class  use  than  any  text- 
book, and  the  realities  of  right  living  will  come  home 
with  great  force  when  taken  from  the  very  texture 
of  life  in  the  making.  The  teacher  who  has  been 
the  story-teller  at  the  camp  fire  and  the  respon- 
sible director  in  duties  that  must  be  exactly  done, 
not  only  will  be  free  from  disciplinary  problems 
in  the  class  session,  but  will  be  the  trusted  sponsor 
for  all  of  those  heroes,  biblical  and  secular,  who 
fire  the  soul  of  youth  with  nobility  and  high 
resolve.  The  canon  of  biography  for  religious 
education  on  its  civic  side  must  be  kept  open,  and 


66      The  Chuech  School  of  Citizenship 

the  real  leader  will  introduce  the  boys  to  great 
citizens  both  of  the  long  ago  and  of  today.^  For 
adventure  reading  of  the  right  sort  and  for  informa- 
tion on  craft  technique  the  volumes  constituting 
Every  Boy's  Library,  published  by  the  Boy  Scouts 
of  America,  are  excellent. 

Since  such  a  movement  is  now  well  established 
and  heartily  indorsed  by  those  most  interested  in 
good  citizenship,  since  it  is  entirely  friendly  to  the 
church  and  offers  methods  of  work  with  boys  that 
no  individual  church  could  otherwise  devise  and 
carry  out,  might  not  the  church  school  of  citizen- 
ship require  all  of  its  boys  in  the  twelfth-  to 
fifteenth-year  period  to  take  scouting  in  regular 
course  ?  And  in  pursuance  of  this  plan  would 
it  not  be  well  for  the  church  to  select  for  training 
and  commission  as  scout  masters  a  corps  of  her 
finest  young  men  ?  The  most  serious  problem  at 
present  confronting  this  greatest  single  movement 
for  good  citizenship  in  the  United  States  is  that 
of  securing  enough  trained  scout  masters  of  the 
required  age  and  of  the  right  moral  stamp.  The 
church  should  supply  men  not  only  for  her  own 
needs  but  for  those  of  the  entire  community. 
This  is  clearly  part  of  her  civic  duty. 

For  the  girls  of  this  period  a  similarly  whole- 
some movement  has  been  begun  in  the  organization 
of  the  Camp  Fire  Girls.     Possibly  the  restrictions 

'  See  list  at  end  of  this  chapter. 


Civic  Training  for  Early  Adolescence    67 

of  the  past  with  the  less  obvious  need  of  training 
girls  for  citizenship,  and  the  fact  that  they  are  less 
gregarious  and  democratic  than  boys,  has  made  the 
movement  somewhat  more  modest  in  scope  than 
that  of  the  Boy  Scouts  of  America.  The  camp 
fire  movement,  however,  while  observing  the 
differentiation  that  should  obtain  in  the  training 
of  boys  and  girls  respectively,  has  done  more  than 
any  other  organized  effort  to  restore  to  girls  the 
paradise  of  the  open  coimtry  and  to  interpret  in 
terms  of  beauty  and  service  a  woman's  duty  to 
home  and  cormnunity. 

The  Camp  Fire  Girls  now  number  upward  of 
100,000  and  are  increasing  at  the  rate  of  about 
3,000  new  members  per  month.  This  organiza- 
tion, like  that  of  the  scouts,  gets  its  chief  civic 
value  in  organizing  and  standardizing  conduct  in 
the  home  and  in  society.  The  value  of  such  an 
institution,  which  is  both  a  dynamo  for  good 
deeds  and  a  court  for  their  recognition,  is  almost 
inestimable.  The  lamentable  efforts  of  school 
methods,  which  have  become  almost  wholly 
ideational  and  physically  passive,  are  offset  by  a 
vigorous  action  program  attached  to  the  full  round 
of  the  child's  daily  life. 

Space  does  not  permit  a  full  description  of  the 
organization  and  ritual  of  the  Camp  Fire  Girls. 
Each  group  is  composed  of  six  or  more  girls  over 
twelve  years  of  age,  with  a  guardian  who  must  be 


68      The  Church  School  or  Citizenship 

at  least  eighteen  years  old.  The  symbolism  is 
built  up  about  fire  as  the  mystic  center  of  home  life 
and  the  camp  as  typical  of  free  life  and  com- 
petency in  the  great  out-of-doors.  The  watch- 
word, "Wohelo,"  is  a  composite  of  work,  health, 
and  love,  which  describe  the  three  cardinal  aims 
of  the  order.  There  are  three  progressive  classes 
of  members:  Wood  Gatherer,  Fire  Maker,  and 
Torch  Bearer.  The  applicant  for  admission  to  the 
order,  beginning  with  the  class  of  Wood  Gatherer, 
declares  her  desire  to  obey  the  law  of  the  camp 
fire,  which  is  "/o  seek  beauty,  give  service,  pursue 
knowledge,  he  trustworthy,  hold  on  to  health,  glorify 
work,  he  happy.''^  If  in  the  course  of  two  months 
she  has  performed  the  seven  specified  requirements 
she  is  admitted  and  given  the  camp  fire  ring  to 
wear.  At  thirteen  she  may  apply  for  admission 
to  the  Fire  Maker  class,  stating  the  following  ideal 
as  her  desire:  ^^  As  fuel  is  brought  to  the  fire,  so  I 
purpose  to  bring  my  strength,  my  ambition,  my 
hearts  desire,  my  joy,  and  my  sorrow  to  the  fire  of 
human  kind.  For  I  will  tend  as  my  fathers  have 
tended,  and  my  father^s  fathers,  since  time  began, 
the  fire  that  is  called  the  love  of  man  for  man,  the  love 
of  man  for  God."  A  score  or  more  of  elective 
honors  showing  very  practical  and  worthy  achieve- 
ment must  have  been  secured  before  admission 
will  be  granted.  At  fifteen,  if  the  girl  has  won 
sufficient  honors  and  has  shown  powers  of  steady 


Civic  Training  for  Early  Adolescence    69 

leadership  qualifying  her  as  an  assistant  to  the 
guardian,  she  may  become  a  torch  bearer.  Her 
statement  of  purpose  is:  ''  That  light  which  has  been 
given  to  me  I  desire  to  pass  undimmed  to  others." 

Honors  are  granted  in  seven  departments  as 
follows:  Home  Craft,  Health  Craft,  Camp  Craft, 
Hand  Craft,  Nature  Lore,  Business,  Patriotism. 
The  book  of  the  Camp  Fire  Girls  lists  some  three 
hundred  and  fifty  of  these  practical  accomplish- 
ments by  which  the  member  may  secure  promotion. 
A  few,  selected  at  random,  are  as  follows: 

Make  bread  in  two  ways,  and  two  kinds  of  cake. 

Gather  two  quarts  of  wild  berries  or  fruits  and  make  them 
into  a  dessert. 

Pick,  dress,  and  cook  a  fowl. 

Air  and  make  one  bed  a  day  for  two  months. 

Sleep  out  of  doors  or  with  wide-open  windows  for  two 
consecutive  months  between  October  and  April. 

Swim  one  hundred  yards. 

Walk  forty  miles  in  any  ten  days. 

Make  a  dress. 

Identify  and  describe  twenty  wild  birds. 

Raise  a  crop  of  sweet  corn,  pop  corn,  or  potatoes. 

Save  10  per  cent  of  your  allowance  for  three  months. 

Describe  the  work  of  three  organizations  interested  in 
labor  conditions  of  women. 

Prepare  plans  designed  to  improve  the  conditions  under 
which  girls  work  in  your  community. 

Dr.  Luther  H.  Gulick,  the  president  of  the 
organization,  says,  ''Camp  Fire  Girls  exist  pri- 
marily to  serve  the  community — all  of   it,   boys 


70      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

and  girls,  men  and  women — by  means  of  that 
'applied  personal  affection'  which  is  their  field  of 
chief  superiority,"  and,  "This  is  the  patriotism 
of  Camp  Fire  Girls:  to  serve  their  country  and 
their  times  by  consecrating  to  it  the  most  precious 
quality  of  womanhood;  to  bring  about  more 
sympathy  and  love  in  the  world;  to  make  daily 
living  more  wholesome  and  happy  and  large;  to 
convert  temptation  toward  evil  into  opportunity 
for  righteousness." 

The  organization  has  enlisted  its  membership 
in  food  conservation  and  in  various  forms  of  war 
aid  and  is  highly  commended  by  President  Wilson. 
The  church  school  of  citizenship  could  do  nothing 
better  for  the  civic  training  of  girls  in  this  period 
than  to  require  camp  fire  membership  and  to  recom- 
mend its  choicest  young  women  for  appointment 
as  guardians. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
boys  and  girls  may  leave  school  and  go  to  work, 
and  of  the  certainty  that  very  many  will  be 
employed  at  sixteen  years  of  age,  it  would  be  well 
to  give  some  attention  to  the  vocational  interest 
in  the  period  under  consideration.  While  the 
assumption  that  young  people  of  this  age  are 
socially  competent  is  indefensible  and  the  economic 
policy  that  thrusts  them  into  industry  is  unprofit- 
able, yet  the  church,  while  working  for  larger 
reforms,   must  strive   to   conserve   the   character 


Civic  Training  for  Early  Adolescence    71 

value  and  civic  worth  of  those  who  are  prematurely 
drafted  for  the  world's  work. 

So  very  much  depends  upon  the  selection  of  a 
suitable  type  of  work  and  upon  physical  and  moral 
safety  in  the  place  of  employment,  and  so  many 
can  be  kept  in  school  for  better  equipment  if  only 
wise  counsel  and  personal  help  are  given,  that  the 
subject  can  hardly  be  avoided  in  a  class  that  claims 
to  deal  with  life.  The  investment  of  a  life  is  a 
sufficiently  sacred  matter  to  the  individual  and  a 
sufficiently  important  concern  to  the  state  that 
the  church  school  need  make  no  apology  for  its 
consideration. 

For  society's  highest  welfare  both  girls  and 
boys  should  plan  and  prepare  for  self-support  and 
economic  independence.  Representative  leaders 
in  the  various  occupations  open  to  young  men  and 
young  women  should  be  invited  to  address  their 
respective  classes  for  the  purpose  of  interpreting 
at  least  the  standard  forms  of  work  available  in 
the  community,  or  possibly  in  the  coimtry  at  large. 
For  the  most  part  these  young  persons  know  neither 
themselves  nor  the  available  positions  in  any  ade- 
quate way;  and  as  for  the  social  significance  or 
Christian  service  inhering  in  the  various  trades 
and  professions,  no  very  sympathetic  or  illuminat- 
ing analysis  has  ever  been  made.  Christian 
representatives  from  the  inside  can  perhaps 
supply   the   rising   generation   with    those   ideals 


72      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

which,  although  hitherto  slender  and  overgrown 
by  "business  first"  and  rank  industrialism,  must 
yet  prevail  if  democracy  is  to  progress  from  a 
shibboleth  to  the  full  emancipation  of  life. 

It  may  be  that  some  of  these  rash  young  idealists 
will  really  believe  that  life  is  greater  than  wealth 
and  will  in  time  make  those  demonstrations  of 
equity  and  brotherly  love  which  will  do  more  to 
Christianize  the  world  of  affairs  than  the  preaching 
of  many  sermons.  Nothing  could  be  more  fatal 
for  good  citizenship  than  that  these  beginners 
should  enter  into  work,  or  finally  attain  position, 
with  only  that  gloss  of  religion  which  guarantees 
respectability  and  without  the  revolutionary  pur- 
pose of  Jesus. 

It  will  be  somewhat  easier  to  clarify  the  civic 
aspects  of  the  standard  professions  than  to  socialize 
industry  and  business.  Law,  medicine,  teaching, 
preaching,  and  journalism  are  more  readily  con- 
ceived as  public  service,  and  a  relatively  large 
number  of  church  young  people  will  be  so  protected 
from  the  economic  demand  that  they  may  take 
time  to  prepare  for  one  or  another  of  these  profes- 
sions. To  learn  something  of  the  exact  nature  of 
these  "callings"  and  to  consider  them  as  ways  of 
serving  the  pubhc,  to  study  their  codes  of  honor 
and  to  become  acquainted  with  a  first-rate  Chris- 
tian representative  of  each  may  be  a  great  aid  in 
awakening  a  vocational  interest  and  in  giving  it 
intelligent  direction  when  awakened. 


Civic  Training  for  Early  Adolescence    73 

For  the  industrial,  commercial,  and  professional 
fields  alike  the  teacher  will  do  well  to  conduct  class 
visits  to  the  plants,  stores,  offices,  hospitals,  courts, 
and  other  places  where  the  various  forms  of  work 
are  in  process.  It  is  a  good  plan  also  to  have  each 
pupil  make  an  honest  inventory  of  himself  some- 
what after  the  pattern  to  be  found  in  Parsons' 
Choosing  a  Vocation  or  that  of  the  "Find  Yourself 
Campaign"  of  the  Y.M.C.A.  The  real  question 
is  not,  "How  can  I  make  money?"  but,  "How  can 
I  best  serve  my  fellow-men  ?" 

In  addition  to  such  an  inventory  each  pupil 
might  make  out  a  personal-expense  account  show- 
ing his  cost  to  society  to  date  and  his  return  thereon. 
This  is  fascinating  and  often  produces  new  moral 
attitudes  that  make  for  good  citizensTiip.  When 
the  youth  realizes  from  his  own  calculation  what 
portion  of  society's  wealth  he  has  used  up  in  food, 
clothing,  education,  medical  care,  recreation,  and 
in  all  the  service  rendered  him,  he  is  much  more 
likely  to  resolve  upon  the  only  self-respecting 
course  open  to  him- — that  of  giving  a  full  return 
for  value  received.  The  avenues  of  this  contribu- 
tion, such  as  family,  school,  city,  state,  and 
nation,  become  more  real  to  him,  and  the  real 
character  of  the  slacker  or  grafter  who  is  content 
to  receive  these  benefits  without  gratitude  and 
the  full  purpose  and  effort  to  bring  a  return  with 
profit  to  the  society  that  has  nurtured  him  is  clearly 
seen. 


74      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

The  importance  of  bringing  home  this  lesson  of 
costs  cannot  be  overemphasized,  for  the  disposition 
to  take  all  the  benefits  of  society  for  granted  and 
to  consider  one's  future  wholly  one's  own  affair  is 
very  marked  in  American  life.  The  ingrate  can- 
not become  a  good  citizen.  Moreover,  such  a 
canvass  brings  into  moral  review  one's  personal 
budget,  revealing  any  tendencies  toward  extrava- 
gance and  curbing  the  indulgence  in  luxury  at 
other  people's  expense.  The  good  citizen  must 
be  a  producer  of  some  form  of  wealth,  material  or 
spiritual,  in  excess  of  society's  expenditure  on  him. 

The  class  should  also  be  encouraged  in  a  wide 
range  of  observation  and  experiment  in  civic 
affairs,  with  descriptions  and  reports  that  afford 
material  for  class  discussion.  All  that  can  be 
learned  relative  to  the  community's  health  depart- 
ment, water  supply,  housing,  fire  department, 
court  system,  taxation,  streets,  police,  etc.,  should 
be  brought  in  for  discussion  under  the  general  idea 
of  what  kind  of  a  community  we  should  have  if 
it  were  entirely  Christian.  Experience  has  shown 
that  the  boys  in  particular  will  respond  to  a  study 
of  the  police  and  fire  departments,  and  in  addition 
to  detailed  information  about  the  systems  will 
delight  in  writing  up  the  heroes  of  the  force.  We 
have  reached  the  time  when  there  is  just  as  much 
that  interests  the  girls  in  other  departments  of 
local   government  and   when   in  preparation   for 


Civic  Training  for  Early  Adolescence    75 

their  place  in  women's  clubs  and  as  fully  quali- 
fied citizens  their  training  is  considered  of  equal 
importance. 

This  is  the  age  for  group  g^mes,  and  probably 
interest  and  participation  in  athletic  contests  are 
now  at  their  height.  A  little  later  there  will  be 
less  time  for  play,  and  the  more  serious  concerns 
of  life  will  be  claiming  more  attention.  In  addi- 
tion to  work  or  vocational  preparation  social  inter- 
est between  the  sexes  will  be  breaking  up  the  gang 
formations  of  this  period.  Much,  therefore,  should 
be  made  of  the  solid  group  formation  of  the  athletic 
team  in  order  that  the  cardinal  virtues  of  successful 
group  behavior  may  become  second  nature. 

The  organized  game  is  probably  the  most  social 
and  adaptable  means  of  laying  the  civic  foundations 
of  square  dealing,  strenuous  effort,  decision,  and 
self-control.  The  church  school  that  has  no  con- 
cern for  the  play  life  of  these  boys  and  girls  is  for- 
feiting half  of  its  civic  opportunity  so  far  as  they 
are  concerned.  To  be  ignorant  of  the  behavior  of 
one's  pupils  in  the  great  excitement  and  character- 
revealing  tests  of  organized  athletics  is  much  the 
same  as  for  a  blind  man  to  practice  marksmanship. 
Sometimes  your  most  accommodating  and  suave 
class  member  is  the  object  of  scorn  and  a  discredit 
to  religion  because  his  associates,  having  seen  his 
moral  nature  stripped  in  play,  know  him  for  what 
he  is. 


76      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

First  among  the  civic  benefits  of  play  is  the  safe 
discharge  of  the  surplus  energy  and  hilarity  which 
otherwise  register  against  the  peace  and  order 
of  society.  The  wave  movement  of  young  life 
with  foaming  crests  of  enthusiasm  and  troughs  of 
despond  is  pretty  well  known,  and  the  value  of 
play  consists  in  offering  wholesome  impact  for  the 
surge  of  life,  and  attractive,  objective  interest  for 
its  intermittent  ebb.  The  group  effect  of  this 
swing  of  youth  runs  far  beyond  the  individual's 
range.  He  is  caught  up,  energized,  intoxicated. 
Youth  amazes  itself  as  well  as  the  community  by 
what  it  will  do  collectively  every  now  and  again 
through  sheer  animal  spirits.  Such  occasions  as 
the  Fourth  of  July,  Halloween,  New  Year's  Eve, 
and  even  Saturday  night  may  result  in  very  bad 
civic  conduct  if  adequate  provision  to  meet  these 
situations  has  not  been  made  in  organized  recrea- 
tion and  play.  Later  on  the  misdirected  spree 
proclivities  will  find  expression  in  debauch,  and  he 
who  has  been  uneducated  in  the  use  of  leisure  will 
contribute  more  to  the  saloon  than  to  his  home  and 
neighborhood. 

Another  civic  value  of  an  adequate  play  program 
is  the  creation  of  aggressive  virtue.  So  much  good- 
ness lacks  power  of  attack.  It  plays  safe,  avoids 
scandal,  keeps  out  of  jail,  and  is  distinguished  by 
what  it  does  not  do.  Strenuous  games  promote 
athletic  goodness,  an  appreciation  of  issues,  and  a 


Civic  Training  for  Early  Adolescence    77 

disposition  to  fight  hard  in  a  good  cause.  They 
who  have  fought  it  out  so  often  in  the  field  of  sport, 
who  have  done  their  best  against  whatever  odds, 
will,  other  things  being  equal,  make  the  best 
citizens.  They  put  effort  in  place  of  fatalism,  and 
self -expenditure  over  against  the  onset  of  evil. 

Play  also  teaches  abandon,  the  ability  to  deliver 
one's  self  heartily  and  wholly  in  a  given  direction. 
It  is  a  great  thing  for  a  community  or  nation  to 
have  citizens  of  this  sort.  So  many  public  move- 
ments, clearly  beneficial,  languish  for  want  of  that 
out-and-out  support  which  is  the  psychology  of 
public  success;  and  situations  which  are  very 
dangerous  for  those  who  dally  with  them  are 
resolved  into  epochs  of  advance  by  those  who  go 
full  steam  ahead.  A  lethargic  citizenship  along 
with  that  which,  for  whatever  reason  of  self- 
concern  or  intellectual  subtleties,  cannot  take 
firm  ground  on  clear  moral  issues  is  a  constant 
menace  to  progressive  democracy. 

Closely  allied  to  this  phase  of  civic  virtue  is  the 
power  of  decision.  Every  move  of  the  athletic 
game,  every  new  situation  created,  demands  deci- 
sion. Unwavering  attention,  quick  judgment, 
execution — these  are  the  inexorable  demands  of 
the  game.  In  the  good  player  the  whole  action 
comes  to-  have  the  ease  and  rapidity  of  a  reflex. 
Now  it  is  true  that  citizenship  calls  for  the  reflective 
rather  than  the  emotional  judgment  of  the  voter, 


78      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

but  it  is  equally  true  that  those  who  watch  the 
political  game  with  alertness  and  whose  partisan- 
ship is  ardently  and  steadily  with  righteousness 
can  and  do  decide  their  own  moves  with  speed  and 
effectiveness.  The  political  trickery  with  which 
the  public  is  afflicted  is  sprung  before  the  opposi- 
tion is  organized.  The  alertness  of  the  good  citizen 
and  of  those  who  seek  righteousness  in  public 
affairs  is  quite  as  important  as  good  intentions. 

America  cannot  pride  herself  on  obedience  to 
law.  There  may  be  many  excuses,  such  as  the 
bewildering  multiplicity  of  laws,  the  "foreign 
element,"  and  all  that  sort  of  thing,  but  the  fact 
remains  that  we  are  a  notably  lawless  people.  We 
have  lawless  children  who  develop  into  lawless 
citizens,  and  the  native-born  are  among  the  worst. 
Prompt  obedience  is  almost  an  unknown  experience 
to  many  boys  and  girls.  Sometimes  despairing 
parents  try  boarding  or  military  schools,  and  those 
who  have  no  means  try  the  juvenile  court  and  the 
reformatory.  It  would  be  a  good  thing  if  all  would 
try  the  organized  game. 

Here  is  one  of  these  whimsical,  indulged,  and 
therefore  antisocial  boys.  The  slight  requirements 
of  co-operation  in  the  city  home  or  the  for- 
lorn limitations  of  the  slums,  the  absentee  or  pre- 
occupied parents,  and  numberless  other  reasons 
have  deprived  him  of  the  old-fashioned  discipline 
of  obedience.     He  has  had  a  very  soft  time  in  that 


Civic  Training  for  Early  Adolescence    79 

respect.  He  has  found  that  blufif  will  work  and 
that  threats  are  empty. 

Let  us  take  him  into  our  basket-ball  team  for 
his  and  the  country's  good.  Give  him  the  posi- 
tion of  guard.  Let  him  wear  the  uniform  and  feel 
the  pressure  of  the  expectation  and  judgment  of 
his  peers  in  play.  If  the  opposing  forward  tries 
to  pass  the  ball  or  to  throw  a  goal  it  is  his  business 
to  block  it.  He  cannot  say  "I  don't  feel  like  it," 
or  trust  to  luck  that  his  opponent  will  fail.  He 
must  be  on  the  spot.  He  must  do  his  duty.  The 
penalty  for  neglect  or  for  anything  less  than  prompt 
obedience  to  the  demands  of  the  situation  is  the 
censure  of  those  whose  judgment  for  the  time 
being  is  the  only  fearful  thing  that  can  reach  his 
soul.  He  dare  not  discredit  his  team  and  lose  his 
position.  The  demand  upon  him  makes  him 
obedient.  With  this  social  pressure  upon  him 
he  goes  through  the  act  of  prompt  obedience  thou- 
sands of  times  and  up  to  the  very  point  of  exhaus- 
tion. Indeed  he  calls  up  reserves  of  strength  not 
hitherto  used  in  order  to  render  this  obedience. 

Is  it  too  great  a  strain  upon  faith  to  believe  that 
such  drill  in  social  obedience  in  the  consuming 
interest  of  play  may  under  wise  guidance  be  carried 
over  to  other  social  situations  where  instead  of  the 
indolent  and  whimsical  citizen  and  the  selfishly 
disobedient  we  shall  have  the  man  who  can  be 
depended  upon  to  do  his  duty  ? 


8o      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

It  is  especially  desirable  also  that  under  party 
government  with  its  rough-and-tumble  campaigns 
we  maintain  the  best  features  of  true  sportsman- 
ship. The  false  idea  that  one's  opponent  must  be 
not  only  defeated  but  also  disgraced  comes  over 
from  the  neglected  and  unsupervised  play  life  of 
the  community,  where  what  might  have  been  true 
sport  under  right  leadership  and  standards  has 
become  the  ruthless  win-at-any-price  encounter 
with  all  the  attendant  trickery,  bluff,  vulgarity, 
profanity,  and  abuse  of  the  umpire.  The  civic 
value  of  play  for  this  age  of  group  games  and 
strenuous  contests  depends  wholly  upon  good 
organization  and  clean  standards.  Otherwise  the 
ascendancy  of  the  bully  favors  the  might-makes- 
right  policy,  and  meanness  and  cheating  come  to 
be  adopted  as  the  approved  method  of  getting 
ahead.  It  is  a  very  important  part  of  the  respon- 
sibility of  those  who  will  shape  citizenship  to  see 
to  it  that  the  community's  play  is  education  in 
getting  along  with  opponent  and  colleague  and 
in  obedience  to  the  rules. 

Much  is  being  said  of  loyalty,  without  which  the 
community  or  nation  cannot  survive.  But  next 
to  home  experience  the  greatest  lessons  in  loyalty 
are  learned  in  team  play.  There  is  some  fallacy 
in  the  doctrine  of  universal,  undifferentiated 
benevolence.  It  is  unfocused,  a  blank  stare  into 
infinity.  The  proving-ground  upon  which  right 
relations  with  all  people  must  begin  needs  definite 


Civic  Training  for  Early  Adolescence    8i 

boundaries.  These  may  be  widened  with  the 
extension  of  experience,  but  at  first  adjustment  to 
the  concrete  group  is  essential.  The  team  which 
represents  church  or  neighborhood,  wears  the  com- 
mon uniform,  subordinates  its  individual  members 
to  group  achievement,  apportions  praise  or  blame, 
and  holds  together  through  thick  and  thin  gives 
intensive  training  in  loyalty. 

The  assignment  of  position  on  the  basis  of  group 
efficiency  rather  than  on  that  of  the  player's  per- 
sonal glory,  and  the  acceptance  of  that  method, 
develop  a  loyalty  whose  cost  is  keenly  felt  and 
whose  worth  is  correspondingly  real.  There  can 
be  no  finer  discipline  for  democracy.  To  sub- 
stitute the  useful  for  the  spectacular,  to  convert 
personal  competition  into  united  group  action,  to 
do  your  best  for  the  common  cause  wherever  as- 
signed, to  learn  that  the  total  eflfect  in  such  har- 
mony is  more  than  the  sum  of  individual  effort, 
and  to  know  that  the  united  body  is  something 
other  and  more  than  its  constituent  members,  that 
it  carries  over  a  spirit  and  power  of  its  own — this 
is  insight  into  the  meaning  of  state  and  nation. 

There's  a  breathless  hush  in  the  Close  to-night — 
Ten  to  make  and  the  match  to  win — 
A  bumping  pitch  and  a  Winding  light, 
An  hour  to  play  and  the  last  man  in. 
And  it's  not  for  the  sake  of  a  ribboned  coat 
Or  the  selfish  hope  of  a  season's  fame, 
But  his  Captain's  hand  on  his  shoulder  smote: 
"Play  up!  play  up!  and  play  the  game ! " 


82      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

The  sand  of  the  desert  is  sodden  red — 
Red  with  the  wreck  of  a  square  that  broke — 
The  GatUng's  jammed  and  the  colonel  dead 
And  the  regiment  blind  with  dust  and  smoke. 
The  river  of  death  has  brimmed  his  banks 
And  England's  far,  and  Honor  a  name, 
But  the  voice  of  a  schoolboy  rallies  the  ranks, 
"Play  up!  play  up!  and  play  the  game!"' 

QUESTIONS,  INVESTIGATIONS,  EXPERIMENTS 

1.  Discuss  organized  play  as  training  for  citizenship. 

2.  Canvass  the  vocational  interests  of  your  pupils  and 
make  a  report  on  these  interests. 

3.  Make  a  plan  for  having  certain  vocations  presented 
by  competent  representatives. 

4.  Conduct  the  experiment  of  the  personal-expense 
budget  and  keep  record  of  the  facts  and  of  the  moral 
reactions,  if  any. 

5.  Describe  the  effects  of  scouting  on  boys  under  your 
own  observation. 

6.  Do  the  same  for  Camp  Fire  Girls. 

7.  Make  a  Hst  of  ten  different  kinds  of  "good  turns" 
reported  by  your  boys. 

8.  Do  the  same  for  a  class  of  girls. 

9.  Ascertain  what  members  of  your  class  use  the  public 
library  and  what  books  they  have  drawn  in  the  past  month. 

ID.  Keep  a  record  showing  how  much  time  per  month 
you  devote  to  your  pupils  outside  the  actual  class  session. 

1 1 .  Outline  a  preparatory  course  for  camp  fire  guardians. 

12.  Do  the  same  for  scout  masters. 

13.  Review  chapter  ii  and  indicate  what  activities  and 
methods  you  would  carry  over  into  this  period. 

'  Henry  Newbolt,  Vitai  lampada. 


Civic  Training  for  Early  Adolescence    83 

14.  Upon  the  basis  of  class  discussion  make  a  list  of 
heroes  and  heroines  that  have  validity  for  this  age. 

15.  Plan  some  piece  of  constructive  work  for  the  good 
of  the  class,  school,  or  church,  and  have  it  executed  by  your 
class.     Keep  a  full  record  of  the  experiment. 

16.  Assign  your  class  to  street  and  sidewalk  duty  for  a 
week.     File  the  individual  reports. 

17.  Assign  waste  prevention  for  a  week.     File  reports. 

18.  Assign  public  safety  for  a  week.     File  reports. 

19.  Explain  the  emotional  instabiUty  of  this  adolescent 
period. 

20.  Ascertain  how  many  of  your  pupils  expect  to  finish 
high  school.     If  any  intend  to  drop  out,  find  the  reason  why. 

21.  Devote  a  given  session  to  outlining  the  community's 
local  government,  and  at  the  session  next  following  have  the 
pupils  write  their  description  of  it.  Correct  and  return 
the  papers. 

22.  Have  the  children  draft  a  set  of  rules  for  the  public- 
school  playground. 

23.  Arrange  for  a  scout  and  camp  fire  evening  with 
demonstrations  of  first  aid  and  other  specialties  by  the  boys 
and  girls. 

READING  RECOMMENDED 

FOR   THE   PUPIL 

Barton,  Clara.    History  of  the  Red  Cross. 
Bloomfield,  Hazard,  and  Lamprey.    A  Civic  Reader  for  New 
Americans. 
Published   for   immigrants  attending   the    Boston   evening 
schools,  but  useful  alike  for  our  young  citizens  of  American  birth. 

Bolton,  S.  K.    Lives  of  Famous  Women  {The  Children's 

Hour,  Vol.  VIII). 
Kelly,  H.  A.     Walter  Reed  and  Yellow  Fever. 


84      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

The  Book  of  the  Camp  Fire  Girls  (fifth  or  subsequent 
editions). 

The  Boy  Scout  Handbook  (fifteenth  or  subsequent  editions). 

The  entire  Macmillan  series  entitled  True  Stories  of  Great 
Americans.  These  cost  but  fifty  cents  per  volume,  and 
the  following  volumes  have  appeared:  Columbus, 
Franklin,  Boone,  Crockett,  Penn,  Grant,  Lincoln, 
Lafayette,  LaSalle,  Washington,  Custer,  Lee,  Houston, 
John  Paul  Jones,  Captain  John  Smith,  Nathan  Hale, 
Fulton,  and  Edison. 

FOR   THE   TEACHER 

Barnard,  Carrier,  Dunn,  and  Kingsley.  The  Teaching  of 
Community  Civics.  (United  States  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion Bulletin,  191 5,  No.  23) 

Hill,  Mabel.     The  Teaching  of  Civics. 

Lapp,  John  A.    Our  America. 

Scouting  (a  semimonthly  magazine  for  workers  with  boys). 

Wohelo  (a  monthly  magazine  for  girls). 


CHAPTER  IV 
CIVIC  TRAINING  FOR  LATER  ADOLESCENCE 

Usually  at  about  sixteen  years  of  age  young 
people  are  confronted  with  the  necessity  of  some 
measure  of  intellectual  reconstruction.  Whether 
as  a  result  of  their  high-school  course,  then  in 
progress,  or  as  a  derivative  from  their  early  experi- 
ence at  work,  a  certain  process  of  sophistication 
sets  in.  Authorities  hitherto  unquestioned  are 
curtly  challenged,  dictation  is  intolerable,  physical 
restraint  impossible,  and  the  very  axioms  of  human 
wisdom  are  wholly  debatable.  There  is  danger  of 
anarchy,  and  wherever  ideals  are  rudely  shattered 
and  childhood's  dreams  ridiculed  the  greater  dan- 
ger of  cynicism  is  incurred. 

This  venture  is  in  the  direction  of  a  free  and 
independent  personality  and  is  a  claim  for  the  right 
of  private  judgment.  It  looks  toward  that  com- 
petency which  citizens  in  a  democracy  must  have 
and  exercise.  No  good  can  come  from  any  auto- 
cratic attempt  to  restrict  this  freedom  of  thought 
and  to  stifle  this  first  philosophic  joy  of  formulating 
for  one's  self  a  world-attitude.  No  matter  how 
many  beaten  paths  or  prosaic  highways  pierce  the 
forest  and  cross  the  mountain,  it  is  well  for  youth 

85 


86      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

to  have  a  few  strenuous  days  in  the  underbrush  and 
among  the  rocks  with  the  charm  of  discovery  and 
self-direction,  even  if  in  the  end  he  comes  out  on 
or  very  near  the  traveled  road. 

This  tendency,  mixed  as  it  is  with  pardonable 
conceit,  affords  a  rich  opportunity  for  civic  training. 
It  marks  the  golden  age  for  debate.  Social  con- 
ceptions, whether  of  Plato,  Spencer,  Jefferson,  or 
Kossuth,  are  none  too  big  for  these  citizens  of 
tomorrow;  and  the  problems  of  our  own  govern- 
ment, local,  national,  and  international,  will  be 
taken  up  with  great  zest  and  seriousness. 

It  is  rather  doubtful  whether  much  of  benefit 
can  be  accomplished  by  attempting  to  teach  the 
exact  nature  and  function  of  various  govern- 
mental bodies  prior  to  this  age.  Moreover,  if 
one  takes  into  account  the  rank  and  file  of 
young  people  rather  than  the  small  percentage 
who  will  finish  high  school  and  go  to  college, 
the  age  of  sixteen  will  appear  as  a  distinct 
division  point  in  youth's  journey.  It  is  at  about 
that  time  that  employment  may  profitably  be 
undertaken,  since  most  reputable  concerns,  both 
because  of  legal  restrictions  and  for  the  sake  of 
business  efficiency,  do  not  care  to  employ  younger 
children. 

The  church  school  should  keep  in  mind  the  fact 
that  at  this  time  an  increased  share  of  the  educa- 
tional burden  falls  to  her,  and  that  the  agencies 


Civic  Training  for  Later  Adolescence    87 

which  will  pilot  youth  from  this  age  to  the  time  of 
full,  legal  citizenship  are  few  indeed. 

It  would  be  difi&cult  to  draw  an  exact  line  sepa- 
rating the  studies  more  suitable  for  adults  over 
twenty-one  years  of  age  from  those  adapted  to  the 
period  with  which  we  are  now  dealing.  Wherever 
there  is  a  doubt  in  the  matter  one  should  incline 
toward  the  earlier  use  both  because  of  the  pupil's 
greater  teachableness  and  because  of  the  fact 
that  he  is  not  as  yet  intrenched  in  the  social  ethics 
of  our  imperfect  economic  system.  Those  whose 
business  success,  profits,  and  holdings  argue  for  the 
status  quo  can  only  with  great  effort  become  ardent 
students  of  fundamental  reform.  The  church 
school  of  citizenship  should  aim  as  far  as  possible 
to  get  a  righteous  verdict  from  youth  prior  to  that 
unconscious  closing  of  the  mind  which  success  and 
prosperity  so  often  bring. 

In  view  of  youth's  proclivity  for  discussion,  and 
as  testimony  to  vital  interest,  it  would  be  well  to 
provide  for  the  most  earnest  of  the  Sunday-school- 
class  members  and  for  others  who  may  not  attend 
that  session  some  other  outlet  for  their  contending 
civic  ideas.  A  regular  Saturday  night  meeting  of 
the  group  as  a  debating  society  will  produce  excel- 
lent results  in  the  most  industrious  investigation 
of  government  reports,  local  conditions  bearing 
upon  the  issue,  and  standard  sources  wherever 
found.     Now  and  again  a  public  debate  with  some 


88      The  Church  School  oe  Citizenship 

well-known  and  respected  local  official  presiding 
and  prominent  persons  for  judges  will  stimulate 
the  society,  develop  confidence  in  public  speaking, 
and  provide  a  pleasant  social  occasion. 

However,  the  rather  common  practice  of  assign- 
ing debaters  to  their  respective  sides  regardless  of 
personal  conviction  and  for  drill  in  argumentation 
is  vicious  and  destroys  the  civic  value  of  this 
kind  of  training.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  most 
young  Americans  are  already  quite  proficient  in 
bluffing,  having  had  ample  practice  in  school 
recitation — not  to  mention  other  instances — so 
that  what  we  need  for  democracy  is  not  smartness 
but  the  ability  to  sustain  conviction  on  public 
matters  and  by  fair  reasoning  to  augment  a  minor- 
ity which  is  right  to  a  majority  which  rules.  This 
is  imperative  for  social  advance,  and  the  mere 
ability  to  make  the  worse  appear  the  better  argu- 
ment is  a  tawdry  accomplishment  and  a  danger- 
ous civic  liability. 

A  serious  consideration  of  important  issues  is 
greatly  needed  by  our  young  people.  The  pre- 
cocious social  pace  which  they  now  set  and  the 
*' movie-mind"  with  its  surface  titillation  which 
they  develop  justify  the  fear  that  the  essential  dig- 
nity and  moral  earnestness  to  be  found  in  grap- 
pling with  great  questions  of  civic  import  will  be 
overlooked.  A  sort  of  pleasure  ideal,  a  hfe  of  the 
senses,  a  ffitting  here  and  there  for  manufactured 


Civic  Training  for  Later  Adolescence    89 

sensation  instead  of  the  sobriety  of  elemental 
moral  issues,  seriously  threaten  our  citizenship 
now  in  the  making.  Some  never  so  much  as 
awaken  to  any  vocational  interest  until  it  is  too 
late,  and  very  many  fail  entirely  of  any  glimpse 
of  those  major  questions  of  public  concern  which 
have  drawn  into  their  wake  and  illumined  such 
characters  as  Franklin,  Jefferson,  and  Lincoln. 
To  suppose  that  American  youth  is  decadent  might 
only  be  equivalent  to  confessing  that  we  ourselves 
are  no  longer  young,  but  what  with  the  urbanizing 
of  so  many  and  the  tendency  of  leaders  and  teachers 
to  underplay  or  avoid  the  great  moral  issues  for 
fear  of  giving  offense  there  is  considerable  danger 
of  superficiality. 

A  ragtime  youth  with  Charlie  Chaplin  manners 
and  Mutt  and  Jeff  mentality  gives  no  great  promise 
for  the  stability  of  the  state.  If  church  young 
people  cherish  the  idea  that  being  up  to  date  and 
competent  in  such  vulgar  claptrap  is  the  sign 
manual  of  the  cult  of  youth  and  are  rather  ashamed 
of  being  posted  on,  or  concerned  with,  the  socio- 
moral  issues  of  the  day,  what  is  to  be  expected  of 
those  who  have  had  no  connection  with  this  agency 
whose  very  burden  and  purpose  is  the  establish- 
ment of  a  perfect  social  order  ? 

The  maximum  benefit  of  debate  will  be  realized 
when  the  questions  under  discussion  parallel  the 
topics  which  are  being  considered  in  the  Sunday 


9©      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

class  session.  For  example,  if  the  class  is  making 
study  of  child  protection  as  based  on  the  teaching 
of  Jesus  and  exemplified  in  community  organiza- 
tion and  effort,  then  in  the  week-night  meeting  as 
a  debating  club  such  questions  as  the  following 
might  be  threshed  out: 

Resolved,  That  insurance  should  be  compulsory. 

Resolved,  That  mothers'  pensions  impede  social  advance. 

Resolved,  That  compulsory  education  should  apply  to  all 
persons  under  eighteen  years  of  age. 

Resolved,  That  the  community's  play  should  be  admin- 
istered as  part  of  the  school  system. 

Resolved,  That  minors  be  prohibited  from  engaging  in  any 
of  the  street  trades,  etc. 

Therefore,  although  debate  may  not  be  made 
attractive  to  all  the  young  people,  it  will  have 
great  civic  value  in  developing  prospective  leaders, 
in  stimulating  the  study  of  public  questions,  in 
training  for  public  speaking,  and  in  teaching  self- 
possession,  courtesy,  and  fairness  in  discussion. 
Most  of  all  it  will  turn  to  good  account  the 
normal  skepticism  of  this  period. 

Another  helpful  device  for  later  adolescence 
consists  in  the  organization  and  conduct  of  govern- 
mental bodies.  The  class  or  department  may 
become  a  city  council,  or  board  of  county  com- 
missioners, or  a  miniature  legislature.  Organiza- 
tion and  procedure  must  be  identical  with  that  of 
these  legally  constituted  bodies,  and  the  policies, 


Civic  Training  for  Later  Adolescence    91 

appropriations,  and  other  matters  engaging  the 
people's  representatives  should  be  taken  up  and 
disposed  of  after  the  fashion  of  responsible  agents. 
A  great  deal  of  the  play  spirit  will  enter  into  this, 
while  at  the  same  time  valuable  information  on 
how  the  people's  business  is  transacted  will  be 
obtained. 

One  of  the  most  humorous  of  these  combinations 
of  play  and  civic  education  is  the  mock  trial.  No 
difficulty  will  be  experienced  in  securing  a  local 
judge  or  attorney  to  coach  the  participants  and 
none  whatever  in  securing  a  full  courtroom  of 
amused  citizens  when  the  trial  comes  off.  Along 
with  the  fun,  wit,  and  caricature  incident  to  the 
trial  the  young  people  will  learn  something  of 
how  a  court  trial  is  held.  Those  who  have  visited 
real  courtrooms  to  any  extent  will  agree  that  the 
hypothetical  dignity  of  bench  and  bar  will  not  be 
seriously  injured  at  the  hands  of  these  jolly  litigants 
and  functionaries. 

In  some  such  ways  as  these  and  at  about  this 
time  interest  in  the  structural  side  of  government 
may  be  augmented.  The  church  school  can  under- 
take only  a  limited  part  of  the  formal  task  of  defin- 
ing the  methods  and  purposes  of  the  legislative, 
executive,  and  judicial  departments  of  govern- 
ment. Public  education  will  have  covered  the 
ground,  but  often  so  far  in  advance  of  the  child's 
possible  interest  in  such  matters  that  the  facts 


92      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

remain  meaningless  until  enacted  in  some  such  way 
as  is  here  proposed  for  the  church  group.  Per- 
haps Our  America,^  by  James  A.  Lapp,  although 
suited  to  juveniles  in  some  respects,  is  as  good  as 
any  for  this  purpose. 

Attention  should  be  given  to  the  use  of  these 
young  people  as  leaders.  Prior  to  this  period  they 
have  not  been  qualified  and  subsequent  to  it  they 
will  have  less  leisure  and  enthusiasm  for  such 
service.  Probably  the  maximum  possibilities  of 
volunteer  effort  will  be  found  in  these  years  from 
sixteen  to  twenty-one.  With  good  supervision  an 
immense  amount  of  work  can  be  accomphshed, 
as  is  evidenced  by  the  young  people's  societies, 
organized  classes,  and  boys'  and  girls'  clubs,  con- 
ducted by  those  who  are  in  the  first  flush  of  respon- 
sible leadership. 

In  the  organization  of  music  for  patriotic  service, 
in  working  up  dramatic  presentations  of  national 
themes,  and  in  promoting  a  commimity  pageant 
these  young  enthusiasts  will  be  unsurpassed.  In 
the  matter  of  the  music  alone  one  cannot  but  regret 
the  serious  loss  to  the  democratic  spirit  and  to  the 
emotional  side  of  group  effort  that  has  come  from 
the  operatic  trend  within  the  church.  To  teach 
all  of  the  children  to  sing,  to  bring  all  of  our  young 
people  through  the  refining  and  unifying  discipline 
of  music,  and  to  have  congregations  whose  spirit 

'  Published  by  the  Bobbs-Merrill  Co. 


Civic  Training  for  Later  Adolescence    93 

is  blended  and  uplifted  in  rendering  praise  is  far 
more  beneficial  to  democracy  than  the  common 
practice  of  paying  a  few  professionals  to  sing  for  or 
to  us. 

Young  people  between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and 
twenty-one  can  render  valuable  service  in  commu- 
nity survey  and  investigation.  Barring  the  social 
evil,  saloons,  and  public  dance  halls  as  fields  for 
their  endeavor,  they  can  do  a  great  deal  in  ascer- 
taining the  conditions  which  prevail  in  nickel 
shows,  public  playgrounds  and  bathing  beaches, 
amusement  parks,  and  poolrooms.  They  will 
need  wise  leadership  on  the  part  of  someone  who 
knows  the  channels  through  which  the  informa- 
tion should  be  cleared,  and  will  need  to  be  indi- 
vidually restrained  so  that  any  action  taken  will 
be  after  deliberation  and  agreement  on  the  part  of 
the  leaders  and  the  whole  group. 

In  most  cities  the  complaints  of  individuals 
about  abuses  practiced  by  money-making  amuse- 
ments are  lightly  regarded  by  callous  officials,  so 
that  it  becomes  necessary  both  to  be  very  certain 
of  the  facts  and  to  bring  complaint  through  the 
recognized  organization  working  on  the  prob- 
lem in  question.  Resolutions,  sweeping  accusa- 
tions, and  publicity  first  are  to  be  carefully  avoided. 
Subsequent  inspection  to  ascertain  whether  the 
improvement  forced  or  promised  is  maintained  is 
quite  as  important  as  the  initial  discovery.     One 


94      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

of  the  most  prevalent  errors  of  young  reformers  is 
the  idea  that  social  gains  once  made  are  permanent, 
and  it  may  be  said  that  in  social  action  the  church 
is  generally  spasmodic  and  needs  to  steady  down 
to  that  eternal  vigilance  which  is  the  price  of 
liberty. 

Parish  surveys  to  give  the  locations  and  dimen- 
sions of  the  constructive  and  destructive  agencies, 
the  principal  industries,  the  schools,  libraries, 
playgrounds,  hospitals,  churches,  clubs,  saloons, 
theaters,  dance  halls,  and  poolrooms  will  have  some 
value  in  visualizing  the  church's  task,  and  along 
with  investigation  will  give  a  more  vivid  idea  of 
the  magnitude  of  the  struggle  in  which  the  young 
person  is  enlisted. 

However,  it  is  a  mistake  to  allow  these  young 
people  to  do  slumming,  which  is  usually  actuated 
by  curiosity  rather  than  by  the  desire  or  ability  to 
render  aid,  and  as  for  visiting  indiscriminately  to 
ask  all  manner  of  questions  of  the  poor — one  feels 
that  the  poor  are  already  sufficiently  afflicted.  It 
is  better  that  certain  dependent  families  already 
under  the  care  of  the  church,  or  such  as  may  be 
designated  by  the  charity  worker,  be  adopted 
by  the  organized  class  with  the  purpose  to  stand  by 
and  minister  until  they  are  again  on  their  feet. 
Unless  such  work  is  taken  up  in  some  systematic 
and  permanent  way  the  sending  of  visitors  hither 
and  thither,  sometimes  only  to  get  material  for  a 


Civic  Training  for  Later  Adolescence    95 

paper  or  speech  or  to  indulge  in  sentimentalism, 
will  be  mistaken  for  social  service.  Some  church 
people  seem  to  think  that  even  the  young  children 
of  the  Sunday  school  should  visit  the  needy  homes 
and  should  report  to  the  class  or  to  the  whole  school 
what  they  see  and  do ;  but  the  soundness  of  such  a 
policy,  considered  either  as  relief  or  as  moral 
education,  is  to  be  seriously  questioned. 

One  of  the  best  ways  for  the  young  people  to 
become  acquainted  with  these  problems  in  a  legiti- 
mate, helpful  way  is  by  voluntary  service  in  social 
settlements  and  with  the  estabUshed  agencies  of 
the  city.  By  virtue  of  group  leadership  and  the 
friendship  developed  therein  and  under  the  super- 
vision of  trained  workers  the  further  task  of 
pushing  back  into  the  home  may  be  more  deli- 
cately and  intelligently  performed.  Young  people 
should  not  be  turned  loose  in  the  very  vague 
and  much-lauded  field  of  social  service  with  the 
thought  that  they  will  either  derive  or  render 
much  good  unless  properly  organized  and  well 
directed. 

A  current-events  club  so  organized  as  to  secure 
ofl&cial  pamphlets  and  government  reports  and 
based  on  the  weekly  news  reviews  of  the  stand- 
ard magazines  might  have  considerable  value  for 
civic  training.  It  could  build  up  a  library  of 
information  on  the  momentous  affairs  of  the 
hour  and  would  stimulate  profitable  reading.     The 


96      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

underwritten  premise  of  all  such  work  is  the 
attempt  to  relate  individual  and  collective  conduct 
to  the  ideals  of  Jesus. 

In  connection  with  current  problems  it  would 
be  well  to  invite  speakers  of  exceptional  informa- 
tion and  standing,  so  that  the  inner  difficulties, 
usually  unknown  to  inexperienced  young  people, 
might  be  sympathetically  appreciated.  Personal 
observation  and  report  on  the  part  of  club  mem- 
bers should  be  encouraged. 

Biography  is  still  in  place.  It  can  be  more 
thorough  and  philosophic  than  for  the  preceding 
period.  Possibly  the  life  of  the  Earl  of  Shaftes- 
bury throws  more  light  on  the  social  gains  of  the 
nineteenth  century  than  any  other  biography. 
It  also  grips  the  imagination  of  youth  and  shows 
the  nature  of  the  task  of  a  Christian  statesman. 
In  the  preceding  period  the  biography  will  have 
more  to  do  with  the  conquest  of  nature,  in  this  it 
will  rather  emphasize  society's  struggle  for  human 
rights. 

As  the  young  people  near  their  majority  much 
should  be  made  of  preparation  for  the  franchise. 
The  present  general  neglect  of  this  phase  of  civic 
education  must  give  place  to  conscientious  and 
thorough  training.  Great  values  are  lost  and 
democracy  is  endangered  by  allowing  our  young 
people  simply  to  drift  into  possession  of  our  only 
recognized   form   of   sovereign   power,    the   vote. 


Civic  Training  for  Later  Adolescence    97 

We  have  the  right  and  duty  of  training  our  sover- 
eign. He  is  as  good  or  as  bad,  as  intelligent  or  as 
stupid,  as  we  make  him.  The  outcry  against  the 
inefficiency  or  crookedness  of  the  government  is 
never  more  than  an  indictment  of  ourselves;  and 
we  should  be  reminded  in  passing  that  the  average 
of  honor  and  faithfulness  in  public  life  is  on  a  par 
with  that  found  in  domestic  or  business  life.  Pub- 
lic servants  are  but  samples  of  what  we  really  are, 
and  they  are  servants  of  our  choosing. 

The  concern  which  from  now  on  will  be  given 
to  fitting  the  foreign-born  for  American  citizen- 
ship needs  to  be  applied  equally  to  all  who  are  about 
to  enter  that  great  partnership  which  constitutes 
the  republic.  Enfranchisement  should  be  made  a 
spiritual  experience.  To  receive  this  responsi- 
bility thoughtlessly  and  without  preparation,  or- 
with  the  small  party  politician  as  tutor  and  personal 
gain  as  reward  for  party  loyalty,  is  nothing  short 
of  a  calamity.  The  industry  of  the  precinct  com- 
mitteeman in  rounding  up  the  new  vote  must  be 
excelled  by  those  who  will  deliver  to  the  state  a 
free  and  intelligent  citizen. 

The  vast  expenditures  for  public  education  and 
the  total  expense  of  society  in  bringing  her  wards 
to  their  majority,  with  all  the  accumulated  advan- 
tages that  constitute  American  civilization,  forbid 
turning  over  the  keys  of  the  citadel  to  the  thought- 
less or  selfish.     Since  young  people  who  are  about 


qS      The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

to  enter  citizenship  have  been  for  some  time 
beyond  the  reach  of  public  education,  it  becomes 
the  more  important  that  voluntary  agencies  do 
all  they  can  to  supplement  the  earlier  school  train- 
ing, to  illumine  and  solemnize  the  goal  that  ends 
dependency  and  marks  full  citizenship,  and  to 
hasten  the  time  when  the  state  will  pay  more 
attention  to  this  phase  of  education  so  vital  to  her 
well-being. 

Among  the  voluntary  agencies  which  must,  for 
the  present,  try  to  meet  the  need  there  is  none 
more  promising  than  the  church.  Her  presence 
in  every  community  and  the  essentially  religious 
nature  of  the  experience  by  which  one's  life  is 
bound  into  the  legal  solidarity  of  the  body  politic 
qualify  her  pre-eminently  for  this  educational 
task. 

Naturally  all  that  the  church  school  has  done 
in  civic  education  through  the  successive  grades 
will  coimt  toward  the  crowning  experience,  the 
commencement  day,  when  with  her  full  blessing 
and  suitable  ceremony  her  youth  will  be  formally 
given  to  the  service  of  the  state.  As  immediate 
preparation  for  this  event  there  should  be  a  first- 
voters'  class  to  include  all  persons  twenty  years 
of  age,  and  miless  their  number  is  sufficient  to 
warrant  a  separate  class  all  those  who  are  pre- 
paring for  naturalization.  Such  studies  as  throw 
light  on   the  long  struggle  for  religious  liberty, 


Civic  Training  for  Later  Adolescence    99 

common  rights,  and  universal  franchise  should 
be  taken  up,  together  with  the  very  important 
matter  of  the  existing  election  laws  and  the  exact 
method  of  registering  and  voting.  Probably  a 
study  of  taxation  might  also  be  made,  so  that 
the  financial  nature  of  the  partnership  about  to 
be  assumed  might  be  seriously  accepted. 

As  a  climax  to  all  that  has  been  done  in  the 
lower  grades  and  in  this  special  class  it  would  be 
well  to  hold  a  religious  service,  say  early  in  Novem- 
ber of  each  year,  in  which  all  who  had  come  into 
their  franchise  during  the  year  would  receive  public 
recognition  and  the  spiritual  support  of  such  an 
address  and  such  a  ceremony  as  would  gird  them 
for  the  full  and  noble  discharge  of  their  duties. 
In  the  same  week  some  social  celebration  of  the 
occasion  might  be  given  by  one  or  another  of  the 
societies  of  the  church. 

If  in  some  such  ways  as  these  the  idealism  and 
loyalty  of  youth  can  be  confirmed  in  noble  citizen- 
ship it  will  not  be  long  before  our  public  life  will 
show  an  upward  trend.  Furthermore  it  is  to  be 
expected  that  such  an  instruction  in  Christian 
citizenship  will  tend  to  retain  in  the  membership 
of  the  church  school  many  who  would  otherwise 
drop  out.  A  vital  curriculum  which  gives  orderly 
consideration  to  the  elements  of  social  living  and 
grapples  with  the  very  problems  at  hand  will  not 
be  spurned  by  these  alert  young  people. 


loo    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

QUESTIONS,  INVESTIGATIONS,  EXPERIMENTS 

1.  Make  a  record  of  the  skeptical  tendencies  which  you 
have  actually  observed  in  young  people  sixteen  and  seven- 
teen years  of  age. 

2.  Compare  young  men  and  young  women  in  this  respect. 

3.  Make  plans  in  full  for  five  debates  on  civic  questions. 

4.  Indicate  why  the  church  school  carries  an  extra 
responsibility  for  young  people  from  sixteen  to  twenty-one 
years  of  age. 

5.  Make  a  list  of  the  available  public  officials  of  high 
character  whom  you  might  secure  to  address  your  class. 

6.  Make  a  similar  list  of  social  workers. 

7.  Ascertain  aU  the  forms  of  social  or  pubUc  service  being 
rendered  by  members  of  your  class  and  post  the  information 
in  suitable  fashion. 

8.  Outline  a  program  of  social  occasions  for  the  organized 
class  or  classes  or  for  the  young  people's  society. 

9.  Rate  your  pupils  in  the  order  of  what  seems  to  be 
their  power  of  leadership. 

10.  Discover  if  possible  the  most  cherished  ambition  of 
each  member  of  your  class. 

11.  Undertake  the  experiment  of  a  mock  trial  and  report 
in  full  to  the  teachers'  study-group. 

12.  What  serious  reading  have  your  pupils  done  during 
the  past  month  ? 

13.  What  advice  would  you  give  your  pupils  regarding 
the  plays  now  showing  in  your  community  ? 

14.  Prepare  and  present  for  criticism  a  lesson  on  "  School 
Teaching  as  Public  Service." 

15.  Do  the  same  for  Y.M.C.A.  work. 

16.  For  Y.W.C.A.  work. 

17.  For  the  ministry. 

18.  For  nursing. 


Civic  Teaining  for  Later  Adolescence    ioi 

19.  For  organized  charities. 

20.  For  one  or  all  of  the  departments  of  your  city 
government. 

21.  What  should  a  community  survey  conducted  by 
volunteer  young  people  be  expected  to  cover  ? 

22.  Enumerate  the  facilities  for  wholesome  social  inter- 
course between  young  men  and  young  women  in  your  com- 
munity. 

23.  Discuss  the  relative  merits  of  the  following  period- 
icals as  text  for  a  current-events  club:  the  Outlook,  the 
Independent,  the  Literary  Digest,  the  New  Republic. 

24.  What  minimxun  of  civic  knowledge  would  you  require 
for  enfranchisement  ? 

25.  What  should  an  oath  or  statement  of  purpose  on 
receipt  of  the  franchise  include  ? 

26.  Prepare  a  recognition  service  for  first  voters. 

27.  What  service  is  your  class  rendering  the  foreign- 
born  ?    What  service  could  it  render  ? 

28.  How  many  young  women  in  your  church  are  camp 
fire  guardians  ? 

29.  How  many  young  men  in  your  church  are  training 
to  become  scout  masters  at  twenty-one  years  of  age  ? 

30.  What  average  net  expense  to  society  do  the  members 
of  your  class  represent  ? 

3 1 .  Outline  a  plan  whereby  representatives  of  the  various 
departments  of  your  city  government  may  inform  the 
church  young  people  as  to  the  respective  functions  of  each 
of  these  departments. 

32.  What  reports,  city,  county,  state,  and  federal,  are 
in  your  Sunday-school  library  ? 

33.  What  degree  of  co-operation  is  practiced  between 
your  Sunday-school  and  the  public  library  ? 

34.  What  co-operation  exists  between  your  secondary 
department  and  the  public  high  school  ? 


I02    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

READING  RECOMMENDED 

Addams,  Jane.     Democracy  and  Social  Ethics. 

.     The  Spirit  of  Youth  and  the  City  Streets. 

Ashley,  R.  L.     The  New  Civics. 

Ashworth,  R.  A.     The  Union  of  Christian  Forces. 

Bulletins  of  the  American  Unitarian  Association. 

GiUette,  G.  M.     The  Family  and  Society. 

Henderson,  C.  R.    Social  Duties  from  the  Christian  Point 

of  View. 

.     The  Cause  and  Cure  of  Crime. 

Hodder,  Edwin.     Life  a?id  Work  of  the  Seventh  Earl  of 

Shaftesbury. 
Jenks,  J.  W.     The  Political  and  Social  Significance  of  the 

Life  and  Teachings  of  Jesus. 
Johnson,  F.  W.     The  Problems  of  Boyhood. 
Kent  and  Jenks.     The  Making  of  a  Nation. 

.     The  Testing  of  a  Nation's  Ideals. 

Lessons  in  Community  and  National  Life.    United  States 

Bureau  of  Education,  Section  A,  Lessons  i,  3,  5,  6, 

and  7. 
Rauschenbusch,  W.     The  Social  Principles  of  Jesus. 
Soares,  T.  G.     The  Social  Institutions  and  Ideals  of  the  Bible. 
Strong,  Josiah.     The  Challenge  of  the  City. 
Studies  in  Social  Progress.    The  monthly  publication  of  the 

American  Institute  of  Social  Service. 
Tillebrown,  C.  R.     Taxation. 
Ward,  Harry  F.    Social  Creed  of  the  Churches. 

.     The  Church  and  Social  Service. 

Wright,  H.  C.     The  American  City. 


CHAPTER  V 
CIVICS  IN  THE  RURAL  CHURCH  SCHOOL 

While  many  of  the  suggestions  offered  in  the 
preceding  chapters  are  as  appKcable  to  the  rural 
as  to  the  city  situation,  nevertheless  it  is  the  latter 
that  has  been  most  in  mind.  Consequently  it  may 
not  be  amiss  to  give  separate  attention  to  the  civic 
possibilities  of  the  rural  church  school. 

If  the  country  districts  are  to  have  capable  and 
enlightened  leaders  they  must  be  furnished  from 
among  country  people.  Any  attempt  of  the  out- 
sider who  thinks  of  farm  people  as  a  separate 
species  and  who  imagines  that  certain  benefits 
should  be  imposed  upon  them  is  bound  to  fail.  It 
is  far  better  to  work  from  within  and  to  believe 
that  those  who  are  industrious,  capable,  sane,  and 
increasingly  well-to-do  can  both  develop  leadership 
and  finance  their  own  progress. 

The  boys  and  girls  who  are  now  on  the  farms 
should  be  the  leaders  of  tomorrow.  They  are 
already  furnished  with  the  very  thought-forms  of 
farm  life.  They  know  the  values  that  have  grown 
up  in  terms  of  crops,  weather,  roads,  stock,  and 
what  not,  and  they  are  in  the  midst  of  a  wonderful 
transformation  that  is  supplanting  mere  drudgery 

103 


I04    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

with  fulness  of  life.  Very  many  of  these  boys  and 
girls  are  to  be  found  in  the  little  Sunday  schools  that 
dot  almost  every  township  and  are  the  original  and 
most  prevalent  social  centers  of  rural  life. 

The  basal  conception  of  the  church's  function 
will  determine  what  she  may  undertake  for  rural 
citizenship.  If  she  is  to  carry  no  obligation  and 
exert  no  conscious  influence  beyond  the  few 
activities  of  her  own  organization  as  such,  then  her 
civic  value  will  be  correspondingly  slight.  But  if 
she  is  the  champion  of  all  that  makes  for  abundant 
life  and  is  eager  for  the  realization  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God  through  all  the  co-operating  agencies  which 
serve,  or  may  serve,  that  purpose,  then  she  will 
be  free  from  all  jealousy  of  school  and  grange, 
lodge  and  club,  and  will  seek  earnestly  to  bring 
them  to  their  highest  excellence  in  the  service  of 
the  people. 

The  tendency  to  make  the  school  the  social 
center  is  very  reasonable  and  logical,  and  if  people 
of  various  nationalities  and  faiths  can  best  express 
their  democratic  unity  there,  then  the  church  will 
exert  her  full  strength  to  secure  civic  gains  through 
that  avenue.  There  is  no  platform  upon  which 
all  may  stand  in  hearty  unison  like  that  of  good 
citizenship.  It  is  the  best  mobilization  ground  for 
moral  advance,  and  the  church  sins  against  herself 
and  society  whenever  she  deliberately  ignores  this 
opportunity. 


Civics  in  the  Rural  Church  School    105 

The  strategic  advantage  of  the  church,  however, 
in  providing  rural  leadership  is  little  appreciated. 
Yet  by  comparison  with  the  school  teacher  the 
country  pastor  ranks  very  well  in  education,  out- 
look upon  the  world,  experience,  aim,  and  tenure 
of  position.  Historically  the  country  church  and 
Sunday  school  have  filled  the  place  of  social  center 
for  the  countryside  rather  better  than  any  other 
institution.  Imperfect  and  halting  as  church 
leadership  is  by  lack  of  community-wide  ideals 
and  by  sectarian  division,  nevertheless  it  is  to  be 
doubted  whether  at  any  place  in  the  social  struc- 
ture of  America  ability  of  the  same  order  as  that 
of  the  country  minister  is  being  retained  at  so  little 
cost. 

What  village  or  settlement  established  by  the 
westward  trend  of  population  does  not  bear  testi- 
mony to  these  unnamed  outriders  of  civilization  ? 
They  sleep  beside  the  pioneers,  the  Indian  fighters, 
and  the  cowboys,  but  what  they  did  remains  as 
a  social  inheritance  of  untold  value.  Now  that  the 
life  of  village  and  settlement  has  become  more 
static,  may  we  not  hope  that  their  successors,  who 
still  love  God's  open  country  and  the  plain  folk  of 
the  farm,  will  measure  up  to  the  old  leadership  and 
serve  their  day  in  the  same  spirit  ? 

One  of  the  first  duties  of  the  church  school  is  to 
make  the  children  aware  of  their  great  good  fortune 
in  being  in  the  country,  and  a  second  is  to  make 


io6    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

them  aware  of  what  the  country  really  is.  There 
is  no  reason  why  they  should  feel  in  any  respect 
less  fortunate  than  their  city  cousins.  Let  them 
canvass  their  situation  and  make  a  statement  of 
why  they  are  glad  to  live  in  the  country.  The 
cheap  delusion  that  happiness  and  life  are  identical 
with  the  glare  and  clamor  of  cities  needs  to  be 
dispelled  from  the  start.  From  the  first  the  chil- 
dren of  the  country  should  be  its  advocates. 
Legitimate  pride  of  this  sort,  based  on  values  that 
are  not  fictitious,  is  a  factor  in  good  citizenship. 

It  is  equally  important  that  the  country  chil- 
dren be  taught  to  observe  closely  the  good  things 
that  lie  all  about  them.  The  tragedy  of  some 
country  folk  is  their  blindness.  Spend  some  of 
the  class-period  in  listening  to  the  children's 
accounts  of  what  they  saw  on  the  way  to  school. 
Flowers,  trees,  birds,  crops,  cattle,  buildings,  roads, 
weather  conditions,  yards,  machinery,  fences, 
brooks,  bridges,  telephone  posts  and  wires,  motors, 
insects,  and  every  item  of  the  child's  environment 
when  actually  observed  become  material  for 
religious  education  and  civic  training  in  the  care 
and  upkeep  of  the  countryside.  In  the  degree  in 
which  the  country  child  is  aware  of  his  surround- 
ings, in  that  degree  is  he  already  religious. 

The  invitation  of  the  rural  environment  to 
improve  pedagogy  by  the  direct  use  of  the  source 
material  of  education  is  almost  irresistible,  and  its 


Civics  in  the  Rural  Church  School    107 

frank  acceptance  would  bring  both  teacher  and 
pupil  more  nearly  into  the  Master's  way  of  Hving 
and  teaching.  Moreover  the  biblical  literature 
as  a  whole  is  so  distinctly  rural  that  many  com- 
parisons and  interesting  studies  are  possible.  By 
a  concurrent  reading  of  the  great  book  of  Nature, 
ever  open  and  always  before  the  country  child,  and 
of  the  biblical  record  of  man's  spiritual  experience 
through  many  ages  and  in  interplay  with  the  same 
natural  order  the  child  is  bound  to  get  new  and 
valid  appreciations  of  his  relationship  to  the 
Creator  and  to  His  co-workers  in  the  art  of  life. 

As  a  rule,  and  even  without  much  formal  teach- 
ing, the  country  child  will  be  found  sensitive  to  the 
concept  of  God  simply  because  he  lives  in  the  midst 
of  the  creative  process  and  is  consciously  dependent 
upon  a  power  outside  himself.  His  life-premise 
cannot  possibly  be  that  of  cosmic  anarchy.  The 
natural  order  says,  "Obey  and  prosper,"  and  the 
process  is  so  simple,  immediate,  and  sure  that 
the  voice  of  God  is  all  but  audible  and  his  hand 
almost  seen.  Hence  the  observation  of  all  living 
things,  the  miracles  of  reproduction  and  growth, 
beauty  and  majesty,  favor  that  fear  of  the  Lord 
which  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom. 

All  of  this  calls  for  elucidation  on  the  part  of  the 
teacher  who  will  use  the  child's  material  and  the 
parallel  biblical  literature  for  the  purpose  of  laying 
deep  the  spiritual  foundation  of  good  citizenship, 


io8    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

namely,  belief  in,  and  accountability  to,  God. 
The  city  child  in  his  more  mechanistic  situation 
cannot  so  easily  find  God.  Recently  an  eighth- 
grade  boy  in  a  Chicago  school  said  to  the  principal, 
''Where  is  the  factory  that  makes  the  seeds?" 

The  country  child  finds  himself  as  a  worker  and 
as  a  worker  together  with  God.  But  it  is  equally 
important  that  he  become  a  colaborer  with  his 
fellows.  According  to  the  usual  criticism,  the 
farmer's  civic  weakness  consists  in  his  narrow  indi- 
vidualism. By  virtue  of  his  occupation  he  is 
socially  very  independent.  The  major  reforms  of 
rural  life  await  his  disposition  to  co-operate,  and 
the  numerous  small  towns  and  villages  of  prosper- 
ous farming  districts  find  that  the  retired  farmer 
is  not  usually  public-spirited  and  progressive. 
In  fact,  with  the  high  price  of  land  and  the  accom- 
panying increase  in  tenantry,  an  idle,  well-to-do, 
and  unprogressive  landlordism  is  rapidly  develop- 
ing in  the  United  States.  It  becomes  prematurely 
non-productive,  its  social  reaction  is  negative,  and 
on  the  whole  it  is  quite  as  culpable  and  more  pro- 
vincial in  terms  of  public  welfare  than  are  the  idle 
rich  of  the  great  cities. 

Rural  education  for  citizenship  must  meet  and 
overcome  this  prevalent  tendency  so  deeply 
grounded  in  the  occupation  and  mind  of  the  farmer. 
Attempts  to  lift  the  horizon  of  the  adult  will  be 
less  successful  than  socializing  the  child  from  the 


Civics  in  the  Rural  Church  School     109 

start.  The  nature  of  living  together  in  units  larger 
than  the  family  will  need  to  be  emphasized. 
Ordinarily  family  loyalty  and  co-operation  on  the 
farm  will  excel  that  of  the  city,  and  the  nature  of 
that  intimate  interdependence  in  terms  of  produc- 
tion, consumption,  and  distribution  will  be  very 
real  within  this  initial  biological  group.  But  this, 
although  a  good  foundation,  is  not  sufficient  for 
that  sort  of  living  together  which  a  successful  com- 
munity demands.  A  rigidity  that  defeats  effec- 
tive social  action  may  still  persist  in  the  family 
which  is  internally  loyal  and  industrious.  Field 
and  Nearing^  give  a  humorous  instance  of  this  in 
the  case  of  a  rural  community  in  New  York  state. 
The  school  board  being  divided  on  the  issue  of  the 
color  that  the  building  should  be  painted  and 
neither  side  being  willing  to  yield,  the  result  was 
a  checkerboard  pattern  alternating  in  gray  and 
white. 

The  approach  to  this  problem  of  bald  self- 
interest  pitted  against  community  interest  must 
be  on  the  basis  of  the  child's  observation  and  must 
take  its  direction  from  the  polestar  of  the  Golden 
Rule.  The  pupil  in  the  church  school  brings  the 
data  with  him.  For  example,  on  the  side  of  limit- 
ing personal  hcense  for  community  good  there  is 
the  farmer's  treatment  of  weeds.  What  weeds 
were  noticed  on  the  way  to  school  ?     Did  you  see 

'  Communily  Civics,  p.  15. 


I  lo    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

Canada  thistle  or  wild  mustard  in  the  fields  or 
along  the  roadside  ?  What  do  they  do  to  crops  ? 
Will  they  remain  on  the  farm  or  by  the  roadside 
where  you  saw  them  ?  How  does  the  thistle  seed 
travel?  Is  it  fair  that  the  man  who  works  hard 
to  raise  good  crops  and  to  keep  his  land  clean  should 
have  his  work  spoiled  and  his  land  damaged  by 
the  neglect  of  a  neighbor  ?  What  should  be  done 
about  it  ?  Should  he  quarrel  with  his  neighbor  ? 
Should  he  go  to  law  for  damages?  Should  we 
have  a  weed  law  and  enforce  it  both  for  field  and 
for  roadside  ?  Show  how  this  would  be  an  applica- 
tion in  civics  of  the  Golden  Rule.  So  of  hog 
cholera,  the  hoof  and  mouth  disease,  tuberculosis, 
and  very  many  diseases  and  pests  which  involve 
immense  loss — the  only  way  to  be  a  good  citizen 
and  to  protect  the  whole  community  is  to  love  your 
neighbor  as  yourself. 

On  the  constructive  side  the  sources  in  the 
pupil's  experience  are  even  richer.  Suppose  he 
describes  threshing,  silo  filling,  irrigation,  the 
co-operative  elevator,  the  farmers'  telephone,  or 
any  of  the  large  operations  in  which  neighbors 
unite  in  effort  and  sometimes  in  the  pooling  of 
capital,  then  the  effectiveness  of  group  action  will 
become  clear  and  the  nature  of  society's  agreement 
in  the  making  and  upkeep  of  roads,  postal  service, 
and  schools  will  be  so  conceived  as  to  justify  the 
necessary  tax  and  to  stimulate  a  wholesome,  con- 


Civics  in  the  Rural  Church  School    hi 

tinuous  interest  in  the  undertakings  of  the  com- 
munity as  a  whole. 

All  such  experience  when  once  clarified  in  the 
light  of  Christian  ethics  is  bound  to  crystallize 
into  community  sentiment.  The  picnics,  gala 
days,  and  celebrations  will  come  to  have  corporate 
rather  than  clannish  or  sectarian  significance.  The 
hope  of  any  intelligent  and  lasting  co-operation 
among  the  religious  agencies  of  the  countryside 
depends  upon  drill  in  co-operative  action  touching 
the  farmer's  material  gains  and  validated  at  first 
by  larger  financial  returns. 

The  whole  matter  of  yield  comes  up  for  moral 
review  and  bears  upon  the  citizen's  productive 
value  to  the  state.  The  boys  will  be  posted  on  the 
ordinary  yield  per  acre  for  the  standard  crops  of  the 
neighborhood.  They  should  be  encouraged  to 
make  comparisons  between  the  best  and  the  poorest 
with  explanations  if  possible.  The  average  for  the 
township,  county,  and  country  at  large  should  be 
known  and  comparison  made  with  one's  own  farm. 
The  immoral  nature  of  any  deliberate  failure  to 
make  the  best  use  of  God's  resources  as  intrusted 
to  the  farmer  should  be  pointed  out.  Descriptions 
of  seed  testing  and  of  intensive,  scientific  effort  on 
experimental  plots  will  not  seem  foreign  either  to 
good  citizenship  or  to  religion  when  thus  inter- 
preted, and  the  corn  club  along  with  all  the  others 
into    which    country    boys    and    girls    are    being 


112    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

gathered  to  produce  and  conserve  food  will  not 
seem  alien  to  the  church  school. 

Such  a  consideration  of  the  Christian  standards 
of  farming  will  bear  very  directly  on  good  citizen- 
ship. The  moral  problems  involved  in  the  careless 
greed  which  "mines"  the  land,  or  depletes  the 
soil  by  failure  to  observe  the  right  rotation  of  crops, 
or  deforests  great  regions  heedless  of  the  rights  of 
oncoming  generations  and  of  the  people  at  large 
are  specifically  problems  with  which  the  state  must 
deal.  To  be  guilty  of  these  practices  is  to  be  a  bad 
citizen.  To  profess  Christianity  while  following 
such  practices  is  at  best  but  self-delusion.  The 
great  advantage  of  the  civic  element  in  the  rural 
church  school  lies  in  the  concreteness  and  imme- 
diacy of  the  problems  handled.  Whatever  may 
have  been  the  changing  phases  of  Christian  educa- 
tion in  past  periods,  it  seems  clear,  that  the  crying 
need  today  is  that  of  applying  our  Lord's  teaching 
(such  as  that  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount)  to  the 
actual  affairs  of  men. 

So  of  animal  husbandry,  dairying,  and  poultry 
raising.  The  pupil  who  tells  how  he  takes  care  of 
his  horse,  cow,  or  poultry  and  comes  to  believe 
that  his  teacher  in  the  church  school  regards  such 
work  well  done  as  within  the  plan  and  purpose  of 
religious  education  will  have  discovered  a  way  of 
expressing  his  obedience  to  God  in  terms  which 
are  for  him  perhaps  more  suitable   than  public 


Civics  in  the  Rural  Church  School    113 

prayer  and  testimony.  The  kind  and  faithful  care 
of  God's  creatures  may  constitute  no  ecstatic  flight 
into  the  Infinite  Love,  but  it  is  part  of  that  march 
of  Hfe  in  which  God  unconsciously  comes  to  us. 

Very  much  should  be  made  of  the  home,  its 
manners,  conversation,  reading,  housing,  water 
supply,  drainage,  light,  air,  premises,  outbuildings, 
barns,  program,  hospitality,  family  spirit,  and 
mutual  service.  The  attractiveness  and  con- 
venience of  the  house  can  so  often  be  improved 
at  little  cost  that  what  is  most  needed  is  not  money 
but  rather  the  suggestions  and  standards  which 
the  church  school  can  persistently  provide.  The 
prosperity  of  barns  with  every  convenience  and 
kitchens  contrived  to  necessitate  the  maximum 
drudgery  is  of  doubtful  worth.  We  are  hearing 
much  about  the  human  element  in  industry.  That 
is  well  and  good,  but  the  farmer's  wife  is  a  human 
element  to  whom  relief  comes  in  many  cases  all 
too  late  or  not  at  all. 

Let  the  boys  and  girls  as  they  become  old  enough 
to  do  so  canvass  thoroughly  the  home  situation. 
Any  ideals  not  applicable  there  are  worth  little  for 
religious  education.  Unless  the  prosperity  of  the 
farmer  is  Christianized  into  fulness  of  life  it  will 
not  make  much  difference  to  his  family  what  the 
yield  may  be  per  acre  or  the  price  per  bushel.  The 
automobile,  which  has  cut  one  string  of  his  purse, 
needs  to  be  followed  by  a  program  of  Christian 


114    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

culture,  which,  although  under  way  in  many  a 
woman's  club,  needs  the  matchless  gospel  of  self- 
giving  for  the  good  of  others.  If  one  may  use  the 
word  culture  to  denote  the  spiritual  values  of  life 
rather  than  any  veneer  or  snobbishness  and  mean 
thereby  the  fine  art  of  living  at  one's  best,  then  it 
becomes  the  task  of  the  church  school  to  bring  this 
culture  to  those  whose  prosperity  as  a  class  is 
bound  to  push  them  out  into  something  either 
better  or  worse  than  their  former  state. 

The  ideals  of  farm  boys  and  girls  of  the  present 
generation  will  conform  to  the  cheap  and  glaring 
urban  type  which  gauges  the  desirable,  now  for  the 
first  time  within  reach  of  farm  people,  in  terms  of 
joy  rides,  cabarets,  and  amateurish  forays  into 
"high  life,"  unless  the  quest  of  romance  and  social 
expression  is  satisfied  in  more  ennobling  ways. 
With  the  present  facilities  of  motor  car,  inter- 
urban  line,  telephone,  and  labor-reducing  machin- 
ery the  grip  of  the  town  is  tightening  upon  country 
life,  and  instead  of  the  development  of  initiative 
and  resourcefulness  in  meeting  the  social  needs  of 
the  rural  district  there  is  a  tendency  to  remain 
atomistic  on  the  land  and  to  flock  to  the  town  for 
the  purchase  of  pleasure.  The  great  civic  virtue 
of  homemade  pleasure,  with  its  accompaniment 
of  neighborliness,  is  in  danger  of  surrendering  to 
the  commercialized,  non-social  form.  One  of  the 
underlying  causes  of  the  retirement  of  farmers  to 


Civics  in  the  Rural  Church  School    115 

the  town,  there  to  spend  the  latter  third  or  half 
of  Hfe  in  idleness,  is  the  failure  of  rural  people  to 
organize  their  social  life  so  that  school  and  church 
shall  be  adequate  to  meet  the  higher  standards  of 
living  that  prosperity  and  the  increased  leisure  of 
the  young  people  make  possible. 

While  recognizing  that  in  some  respects  the 
use  of  the  urban  center  is  advantageous  in  terms 
of  efficiency  and  as  an  offset  to  monotonous 
routine,  it  must  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  a 
distinct  loss  will  be  incurred  unless  social  life  is 
maintained  among  the  neighboring  farm  families 
in  any  given  section.  What  is  needed  is  a  dis- 
criminating use  of  the  city  and  also  wholesome 
social  life  circulating  through  the  homes  and  other 
institutions  of  the  open  country.  Otherwise  the 
people  on  the  land  may  become  as  isolated  and 
non-social  as  the  flat  dweller  of  the  city. 

It  is  not  as  if  we  could  or  would  shut  off  com- 
merce with  the  town  in  any  of  its  legitimate  social 
advantages.  The  aim  should  rather  be  so  to 
regulate  their  use  that  initiative  and  social  resource- 
fulness of  constructive  worth  should  remain  with 
the  young  people  on  the  land.  With  an  alert  class 
in  the  church  and  the  telephone  in  every  home  it 
might  be  possible  to  organize  the  pleasure  trips  to 
town  in  such  a  way  as  to  guarantee  that  moral  pro- 
tection which  the  group  affords  and  to  make  the 
wisest  and  most  profitable  selection  of  the  "movie" 


ii6     The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

plays  and  other  entertainments  which  the  city 
offers.  The  feeling  that  there  is  no  possibility  of 
a  "good  time"  at  home  and  the  loss  of  all  power  to 
use  the  neighborhood  homes,  school,  hall,  or  church 
for  such  ends  are  the  dangers  to  be  avoided. 

For  this  reason  it  is  desirable  to  study  the  home 
not  only  as  a  family  institution  but  as  a  social 
center.  The  entertainments  of  neighborhood  clubs 
and  of  musical  or  literary  societies  have  a  certain 
public  value,  and  auxiliaries  of  this  kind  fostered 
by  the  church  school  will  probably  render  their 
largest  social  service  in  circulating  from  home  to 
home.  So  also  the  social  efficiency  of  the  homes 
in  entertaining  the  young  people  in  their  parties 
and  dances  may  offset  the  lure  of  the  pernicious 
Saturday-night  public  dance  in  the  town  some  miles 
away.  The  delusion  that  city  boys  and  girls  are 
rather  soiled  and  country  boys  and  girls  quite 
pure  is  indulged  by  those  who  do  not  know  that  the 
community's  social  inefficiency  produces  about  the 
same  results  in  either  situation. 

The  formulation  and  execution  of  a  program  of 
better  social  diversion  for  the  country  will  depend 
upon  individual  initiative  and  leadership.  In 
most  cities  social  organization  has  reached  a  stage 
where  regular  provision  is  made  for  play  and 
recreation  and  the  population  is  sufficient  to  make 
steady  use  of  the  facilities  provided  at  public 
expense.     But  if  the  country  is  to  have  "a  good 


Civics  in  the  Rural  Church  School    117 

time"  some  enterprising  person  must  go  ahead  and 
bring  it  to  pass  with  such  voluntary  aid  as  may  be 
offered. 

Unless  such  effort  is  made,  all  the  red-letter  days 
of  the  year  will  slip  by  unimproved  and  in  dreary 
monotony.  If  New  Year's  Day,  Washington's  or 
Lincoln's  Birthday,  St.  Patrick's  Day,  St.  Val- 
entine's Day,  Arbor  Day,  May  Day,  Memorial 
Day,  Independence  Day,  Labor  Day,  Halloween, 
Thanksgiving,  or  Christmas  is  to  contribute  to 
social  and  civic  upbuilding,  then  someone  must 
assume  leadership  and  plan  and  work  well  in  ad- 
vance of  the  occasion.  The  church  should  defi- 
nitely plan  to  capture  these  opportunities  for  the 
community's  good ;  and  if,  as  is  now  quite  common, 
there  are  young  men  and  young  women  of  high- 
school  and  college  training  in  the  church  they 
should  be  set  to  this  kind  of  civic  service. 

There  is  also  an  opening  for  effective  social 
work  in  connection  with  the  county  fair.  The 
tendency  toward  commercialization  and  a  riot  of 
side  shows  which  defeat  the  social  and  agricultural 
aims  of  the  fair  is  very  pronounced,  and  the  church 
group  is  challenged  with  the  task  of  protecting  and 
developing  the  legitimate  social,  educational,  and 
recreative  features  of  this  distinctive  enterprise  of 
country  people.  In  addition  to  the  exhibits  of 
farm  produce,  stock,  cooking,  and  needlework  the 
school  should  be  given  a  larger  place.     Not  only 


ii8    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

samples  of  the  children's  work,  but  the  children 
themselves  at  work  and  engaged  in  song  and  super- 
vised play  should  be  present.  The  recreation 
program  should  be  more  of  the  people's  own  mak- 
ing, with  sports,  contests,  community  singing, 
dancing,  and  the  use  of  all  local  talent.  In  this 
way  they  come  to  know  themselves  and  their 
neighbors  and  to  enjoy  co-operation.  A  certain 
moral  obligation  rests  upon  the  church  group  to 
inaugurate  these  better  methods  and  by  the 
impartial  selection  of  competent  helpers  and  thor- 
oughly unselfish  motives  to  demonstrate  its  good- 
will in  loyal  service  of  the  community.  Such 
undertakings  are  a  curriculum  of  citizenship. 

As  part  of  the  play  revival  in  America  another 
very  happy  form  of  civic  entertainment  has  found 
favor  in  recent  years.  It  is  the  community  pa- 
geant, in  which  the  history  of  the  settlement  is 
dramatized  on  a  large  scale.  For  every  farming 
district  there  is  a  hamlet,  village,  or  town  that 
serves  as  the  trading  center.  It  is  the  social 
nucleus  of  the  district  and  is  composed  of  those 
whose  interests  and  experiences  are  substantially 
at  one  with  the  people  who  work  the  land.  Every 
such  settlement  has  a  history,  some  of  which  is  a 
matter  of  record  and  much  of  which  is  to  be  found 
only  in  the  memory  of  the  older  inhabitants.  As 
a  rule  it  is  not  well  known,  and  many  items  of 
beauty,  legitimate  pride,  hardihood,  and  patriot- 


Civics  in  the  Rural  Church  School    119 

ism  are  lost  to  view   and  remain  ineffective  for 
citizenship. 

Sometimes  the  old  settlers'  club  keeps  some  of 
its  traditions  alive  for  its  lineal  descendants,  but 
it  is  very  desirable  that  the  whole  population  be 
gathered  into  the  charm  and  stimulation  of  its 
own  local  history.  Anyone  who  has  noticed  the 
interest  that  in  such  communities  attaches  to  the 
reminiscences  and  gossip  of  the  old  raconteur  will 
understand  the  psychology  which  supports  the 
community  pageant.^  Its  civic  value  consists  in 
the  ideal  dramatization  of  the  past  running  back 
to  the  Indian  occupants  of  the  territory,  the  Lewis 
and  Clark  expedition,  or  the  prairie  schooners 
with  pioneers  from  Vermont  or  "York  State," 
but  even  more  in  the  enlistment  of  persons  of  all 

'  The  historical  pageant  is  but  one  of  the  many  possibilities. 
There  are  the  "Pageant  of  the  Trees "  from  William  Morris'  poem 
of  that  name,  "The  Moon's  Silver  Cloak"  and  "The  Honest 
Woodman"  from  Aesop  {Children'' s  Classics  in  Dramatic  Form, 
Book  I,  Houghton  MifBin  Co.),  "The  Grasshopper  and  the  Ants" 
{The  Dramatic  Festival,  A.  Craig),  "Bearskin,"  "The  Magic 
Wood,"  "King  Alfred  and  the  Cakes"  {Little  Plays  for  Little 
People,  Hodder  &  Stoughton),  "The  Pageant  of  the  Months" 
from  the  poem  by  C.  Rosetti,  "Pandora,"  by  Longfellow,  "Fairy 
Scenes,"  from  Alfred  Noyes's  Sherwood.  Harper's  Book  of 
Little  Plays  and  Historical  Plays  for  Children  by  Bird  and  Sterling 
will  be  found  very  useful  in  work  with  the  junior  population. 

The  success  of  the  Little  Country  Theater  organized  a  few 
years  ago  by  the  North  Dakota  Agricultural  College  at  Fargo 
shows  something  of  the  country  possibilities  awaiting  develop- 
ment.    This  movement  oflfers  such  plays  as  can  be  put  on  in  the 


I20    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

ages  and  abilities  in  a  voluntary  effort  that  exhibits 
and  develops  community  intelligence  and  pride. 
Everyone  can  help,  and  all  who  help  and  all  who 
come  are  made  better  citizens.  It  is  not  supposed 
that  the  church  group  as  such  will  do  this,  but  here 
again  is  the  opportunity  for  initiative  and  leader- 
ship, and  there  is  the  added  touch  of  church  pride 
in  the  fact  that  every  such  history  will  find  among 
the  commanding  figures  that  shaped  the  new 
settlement  the  circuit  rider  or  the  parish  minister 
in  the  first  line. 

So  of  the  picnics,  plowing  contests,  and  other 
forms  of  community  round-up;  all  that  is  needed 
to  give  them  high  civic  value  is  that  forethought 
and  leadership  which  the  church  can  give  and 
which   when   lacking    leaves    the    way   open   for 


farm  home,  schoolhouse,  or  hall.  The  most  elaborate  city  use 
of  the  pageant  is  furnished  by  that  of  St.  Louis  under  the  direction 
of  Percy  MacKaye  and  Thomas  Wood  Stevens. 

The  following  references  will  be  of  value  to  the  director  of 
rural  and  village  plays:  Play  and  Recreation  for  the  Open  Country, 
H.  S.  Curtis;  The  Playground:  the  entire  number  of  this  magazine 
for  November,  1912;  "The  Meriden  Pageant"  June,  1913;  "A 
Rural  Pageant,"  September,  1913;  "Village  Recreation  in  Leb- 
anon, Ohio,"  December,  1913;  "The  Play  Director  in  the  Small 
Community,"  and  "Work  for  Girls  in  a  Rural  Community" 
August,  1914;  "Rural  Play,"  December,  1914;  "Roosevelt  on 
Rural  Recreation,"  "The  Rural  World  at  Play,"  and  "Staflford- 
ville  Junior  Fair  and  Field  Day,"  February,  1915;  "Rural  Com- 
munities at  Play,"  April,  1915.  The  Playground  is  published  at 
I  Madison  Avenue,  New  York.  There  is  also  valuable  material 
in  every  number  of  Rural  Manhood,  published  by  the  Associated 
Press  of  the  Y.M.C.A. 


Civics  in  the  Rural  Church  School     121 

deterioration  in  place  of  civic  gain.  Such  events, 
inviting,  as  they  do,  liberal  contact  with  the  people 
and  control  of  the  social  spirit,  cannot  be  ignored 
if  the  rural  church  is  actually  to  engage  in  training 
for  citizenship. 

For  the  purpose  of  revealing  the  social  assets  of 
their  vicinity  the  pupils  should  make  maps  locating 
the  farms  within  a  radius  of,  say,  six  miles  and 
such  public  buildings  as  schoolhouses,  meeting- 
houses, and  town  halls.  A  list  of  the  organiza- 
tions represented  in  the  district  should  also  be 
made.  The  aim  should  be  to  ascertain  what 
social  opportunity  is  open  to  young  people  and 
how  these  opportunities  may  be  used  and  im- 
proved. 

Under  good  leadership  the  older  young  people 
and  some  of  the  more  progressive  adults  may 
undertake  a  rural  survey.  We  sometimes  think 
that  it  is  only  the  poor  of  the  great  cities  who  are 
submerged  and  neglected,  but  it  is  pathetically 
true  that  in  prosperous  farming  districts  where 
short-term  renters  come  and  go  without  hope  of 
owning  any  of  the  expensive  land  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  social  neglect.  The  church  school  that 
wishes  to  gather  all  classes  into  its  fold  for  the 
enrichment  of  life  and  the  building  of  Christian 
citizenship  needs  to  know  who  these  diffident 
people  are  and  to  carry  its  friendship  liberally  to 
their  doors. 


122    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

The  renting  class,  which  is  on  the  increase  and 
for  which  the  opportunity  of  cheap  land  grows 
steadily  less,  which  has  no  stake  in  the  community 
and  is  sensitive  with  respect  to  the  landlord  class 
above  it,  is  in  a  fair  way  to  make  little  of  social 
life  and  less  of  good  citizenship.  As  an  expression 
of  Christian  spirit  and  true  neighborliness  and  as 
part  of  its  educational  task  the  rural  church  must 
reach  the  renter  and  his  family.  They  must  be 
won  into  such  social  fellowship  as  will  make  life  less 
barren. 

In  many  of  the  rural  districts  a  large  part  of  the 
civic  task  will  be  that  of  assimilating  the  foreign- 
born  and  their  children.  Those  rehgious  bodies 
whose  ministry  is  trained  abroad  and  whose 
ostensible  duty  has  been  the  perpetuation  of 
foreign  customs  and  language  will  either  be  con- 
verted to  loyalty  to  the  United  States  and  unques- 
tioned support  of  the  country  that  has  given  them 
opportunity  and  freedom,  or  they  will  lose  their 
children  and  young  people  to  the  religious  organiza- 
tions that  stand  foursquare  for  Americanism. 
There  are  localities  in  which  the  church  school 
might  best  further  citizenship  by  teaching  the 
English  language  and  explaining  the  fundamental 
nature  of  our  democratic  government.  At  the 
present  time,  when  so  great  a  strain  is  placed  upon 
those  whose  blood  ties  bind  them  to  a  people 
governed  by  the  arch  enemies  of  democracy,  it  is 


Civics  in  the  Rural  Church  School    123 

quite  possible  that  the  church  school  to  which 
their  children  come  may  by  kindness  and  good- will 
prevent  the  natural  love  of  kin  from  hardening 
into  the  bitter  spirit  of  treason  against  this  country. 
This,  however,  is  part  of  the  emergency  work  of  the 
present  crisis.  If  ''citizenship"  had  been  given 
its  rightful  place  in  secular  and  religious  education 
during  the  past  fifty  years  much  of  personal  heart- 
ache and  hatred  and  public  peril  would  have  been 
avoided. 

One  task  of  the  church  school  which  is  espe- 
cially important  for  the  older  young  people  and 
adults  is  to  open  the  available  avenues  of  informa- 
tion which  are  commonly  unused.  It  may  be  very 
easy  to  secure  the  best  books  from  nearby  public 
libraries,  but  this  will  not  be  done  unless  the  matter 
is  pressed  or  the  church  becomes  a  library  branch 
for  this  very  purpose.  Publications  of  the  state 
schools  of  agriculture  and  government  bulletins, 
state  and  federal,  are  invaluable,  but  will  not  be 
secured  without  similar  endeavor  and  prepara- 
tion. Lecturers  and  demonstrators  with  impor- 
tant and  interesting  information  for  the  material 
and  social  welfare  of  farm  people  are  available  at 
trifling  cost,  but  someone  must  take  the  initiative 
in  securing  their  services.  The  older  young  people, 
the  men's  club,  or  the  woman's  society  of  the  church 
may  well  perform  civic  service  in  inaugurating 
this  educational  work. 


124    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

Any  fair  consideration  of  the  government's  con- 
cern for  rural  welfare,  from  the  Roosevelt  Com- 
mission on  Country  Life  to  the  recent  farm-loan 
legislation,  will  certainly  stimulate  the  patriotism 
of  farm  people;  and  it  is  quite  necessary  for  their 
own  and  the  country's  good  that  they  be  posted 
in  all  phases  of  this  movement.  Let  the  church 
people  promote  patriotism  on  this  solid  ground  of 
service  rendered  rather  than  on  the  inconclusive 
sentimental  appeal. 

There  is  a  certain  danger  in  the  civic  approach 
that  has  been  thus  far  suggested  in  this  chapter. 
It  is  the  danger  of  arrest.  Suppose  that  the 
lessons  based  so  obviously  on  self-interest  and 
immediately  applicable  to  farm  life  serve  only  to 
confirm  rural  people  in  personal  gain  and  strictly 
local  improvement;  that  in  the  case  of  the  exten- 
sion of  interest  beyond  the  immediate  family  social 
imagination  halts  at  the  township  or  county  line; 
that  the  citizen  be  made  more  fat  and  comfortable 
in  his  provincialism.  This  is  the  fear  that  properly 
possesses  the  souls  of  those  who  have  struggled 
with  the  heavy  materialism  of  a  country  parish,  and 
it  is  the  underlying  basis  of  all  opposition  to  placing 
these  "secular"  subjects  in  a  curriculum  of  religious 
education.  Why  should  the  church  teach  agri- 
culture ?  Dives  needs  something  else.  The  loaves 
and  fishes  are  always  a  grave  problem  for  the 
religious  leader. 


Civics  in  the  Rural  Church  School    125 

Citizenship  ideals  with  a  radius  no  greater  than 
farm  or  township  will  prove  disappointing,  while 
religious  ideals  that  never  touch  ground  within 
that  area  will  prove  useless.  The  latter  will  not 
work,  the  former  may  be  projected.  Standing  on 
the  sure  ground  of  immediate  interest  the  church 
school  of  citizenship  may  lift  the  rural  vision  to  a 
wider  outlook.  Rural  life  needs  irrigation  from 
the  great  waters  of  world-affairs.  Only  a  tough 
and  stunted  citizenship  is  possible  without  this. 
Here  it  is  that  the  imperial  nature  of  the  gospel 
must  be  brought  to  bear.  After  all,  it  is  a  kind  of 
life  that  makes  possible  a  world-brotherhood  that 
we  are  striving  for,  and  when  by  the  improvement 
of  reading  and  the  encouragement  of  travel  and  all 
forms  of  culture  we  have  done  our  best,  still  if  we 
lack  Christ's  love  of  fellow-man  our  citizenship  is 
incomplete.  Just  as  reciprocity  between  country 
and  city  is  essential  to  both,  so  the  play  of  the 
whole  world  upon  the  remote  rural  home  is  neces- 
sary to  its  largest  life;  and  how  often  has  it  hap- 
pened that  the  greatest  human  issues  have  claimed 
their  coming  protagonists  at  these  humble  hearths! 
The  really  big  problems  need  no  condiments  to 
whet  the  appetite  of  youth,  and  when  once  they 
strike  the  soul  homespun  and  cowhide  cannot  keep 
one  provincial. 

It  is  therefore  highly  desirable  that  the  minister 
bring  to  the  country  people  his  best  thought  and 


126    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

the  latest  and  most  accurate  information  on 
national  and  world  problems.  These  concern  city 
and  country  equally.  They  constitute  a  moral 
burden  making  for  unity.  It  is  by  espousal  of  the 
cause  of  justice  and  brotherhood  for  all  men  that 
we  become,  in  some  positive  sense,  religious. 

Liberal  use  should  be  made  also  of  the  poetry 
and  other  literature  of  country  life.  Such  books 
as  L.  H.  Bailey's  Outlook  to  Nature  and  his  poems 
on  Wind  and  Weather  will  quicken  spiritual  appre- 
ciation. The  goal  of  all  these  efforts  is  not  merely 
the  efficient  farmer  but  men  and  women  who  live 
richly  in  the  mastery  of  nature,  in  the  fellowship 
of  family  life  and  neighborly  relations,  in  glad 
ministry  to  the  common  good,  and  as  worthy 
citizens  in  each  of  the  widening  circles  of  human 
association.  The  Christian  principle  must  domi- 
nate each  area  and  will  not  rest  short  of  that 
republic  of  the  spirit  wherein  we  are  citizens  of  the 
world  and  therefore  truly  children  of  God. 

With  these  suggestions  bearing  upon  some  of  the 
distinctively  rural  elements  in  civic  training  the 
church  school  should  incorporate  the  bulk  of  what 
has  been  offered  in  the  preceding  chapters.  The 
fact  that  the  process  of  living  together  in  organic 
relation  is  so  patent  in  rural  life  should  lead  us  to 
expect  superior  results  in  the  attempt  to  teach 
citizenship.  The  child  and  the  city  are  eternally 
incompatible.     There    the    process    of   living    to- 


Civics  in  the  Rural  Church  School    127 

gether  is  so  complex,  so  subordinated  to  com- 
mercial ends,  so  artificial  and  arbitrary  that  the 
task  of  orienting  the  child  in  a  social  order  which 
will  appeal  to  his  reason  and  have  basis  in  daily 
experience  is  exceedingly  difficult.  On  the  other 
hand,  childhood  in  the  country  is  of  itself  the  very 
beginning  of  good  citizenship. 

QUESTIONS,  INVESTIGATIONS,  EXPERIMENTS 

1.  What  advantages  does  country  life  offer  for  the 
teaching  of  good  citizenship  ? 

2.  With  what  organizations  should  the  rural  church 
school  co-operate  ? 

3.  What  is  the  civic  value  of  the  community  pageant  ? 

4.  Illustrate  the  use  of  the  child's  observation  in  teaching 
rural  civics. 

5.  Plan  a  class  session  in  which  you  use  the  weed  com- 
missioner. 

6.  Plan  a  class  session  in  which  you  use  the  road  master. 

7.  Plan  three  class  sessions  in  which  you  use  the  county 
agricultural  expert. 

8.  Outline  a  policy  for  the  social  development  of  country 
homes. 

9.  Outline  a  policy  for  the  stimulation  and  improvement 
of  country  reading. 

10.  Make  a  series  of  five  lessons  based  on  distinctly  rural 
material  from  the  Bible  and  suitable  for  children  about  ten 
years  of  age. 

11.  Plan  a  field  day  for  a  country  district. 

12.  Make  a  list  of  the  young  people  in  your  church  who 
have  had  high-school  or  college  training  and  indicate  what 
church  and  community  service  each  person  might  be 
expected  to  render. 


128    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

13.  What  village  improvements  are  desirable  in  your 
locality  and  how  could  your  church  start  and  organize  a 
movement  for  the  realization  of  some  one  of  these  ? 

14.  Is  there  a  woman's  club  in  your  community  ?  What 
is  its  program  for  the  current  year  ? 

15.  Do  you  have  a  county  Y.M.C.A.  ?  What  is  it 
doing  ?    How  does  your  church  co-operate  ? 

16.  What  books  on  rural  life  are  in  your  church-school 
library?  In  the  nearest  town  library?  In  the  pubHc- 
school  library  ? 

17.  What  use  are  you  making  of  the  various  libraries 
and  of  the  circulating  libraries  available  ? 

18.  What  religious  agencies  are  at  work  in  your  town- 
ship ?     In  what  ways  do  they  co-operate  ? 

19.  Plan  and  carry  out  a  township  survey.  (See  Felton, 
The  Study  of  a  Rural  Parish,  published  by  Missionary 
Education  Movement,  New  York.) 

20.  Have  your  pupils  of  about  fifteen  years  of  age  write 
brief  papers  covering  their  observations  on  the  advantages 
of  scientific  farming. 

21.  Have  your  pupils  of  about  ten  years  of  age  write 
a  letter  aimed  to  persuade  some  city  friend  of  the  advantages 
of  country  life. 

22.  Outline  plans  for  reading  and  discussion  on  the 
part  of  a  community  brotherhood  meeting  in  your 
church. 

23.  What  is  the  annual  per  capita  cost  for  religious 
education  in  your  church  school  ?  What  improvements  do 
you  need  ?    How  might  these  be  financed  ? 

24.  What  is  your  school  doing  to  assist  the  nation  in  the 
present  war  ? 

25.  Make  a  plan  for  presenting  to  your  young  people  the 
nature  and  claims  of  five  vocations  that  render  distinct 
public  service. 


Civics  in  the  Rural  Church  School    129 

READING  RECOMMENDED 

Chubb,  P.    Festivals  and  Plays. 

Field,  J.    College  Women  and  Country  Leadership. 

Field  and  Nearing.     Community  Civics. 

Hill,  M.     The  Teaching  of  Civics. 

McKeever,  W.  A.     Farm  Boys  and  Girls. 

Vogt,.P.  L.    RurcU  Sociology. 

Wilson,  W.  H.     The  Evolution  of  the  Country  Community. 

.     The  Church  at  the  Center. 

.     The  Church  of  the  Open  Country. 


CHAPTER  VI 

ADULTS  IN  THE  CHURCH  SCHOOL  OF 
CITIZENSHIP 

This  chapter  aims  to  present,  somewhat  criti- 
cally, the  status  of  the  church  in  the  democratic 
community,  to  indicate  her  civic  obligations,  and  to 
suggest  practical  methods  of  co-operation  between 
church  and  state.  The  problems  treated  have  for 
some  time  confronted  thoughtful  ministers  and 
laymen.  Yet  the  rank  and  file  of  church  members 
have  not  been  educated  to  the  community  point 
of  view.  A  program  in  which  the  church  herself 
has  been  the  chief  concern  has  left  the  great  mass 
of  members  with  nothing  to  do.  The  objectives 
of  the  church  have  not  been  big  enough  to  make 
the  whole  body  a  working  force.  Because  the 
task  has  not  been  sufficiently  large  and  difficult  the 
appeal  has  fallen  below  the  heroic  possibilities  of 
mankind.  Vigorous  souls  are  disappointed  when 
they  discover  themselves  to  be,  not  in  a  campaign 
with  hazards,  but  in  comfortable  quarters  now 
and  forever;  while  the  sluggish  and  selfish  are 
religiously  confirmed  in  an  individual  "safety- 
first"  manner  of  life  which  is  theirs  by  faith. 

This  has  been  the  tendency  in  so  far  as  the 
church  has  been  a  separate  group,  an  end  in  itself, 

130 


Adults  in  the  Church  School         131 

an  asylum  from  the  world,  or  a  safe  transport  to 
the  hereafter.  But  no  church  is  wholly  thus. 
Beginning  with  propaganda  for  converts  to  even 
the  narrowest  faith,  some  social  interest  is  bound 
to  follow,  and  the  extension  of  such  effort  in 
missions  of  all  kinds  always  forces  some  recognition 
of  a  social  solidarity  in  which  many  agencies,  for 
better  or  for  worse,  are  at  work. 

Perhaps  the  most  urgent  need  confronting  the 
church  is  that  of  setting  herself  right  in  the  public 
mind.  There  is,  in  all,  a  vast  amount  of  criticism 
to  the  effect  that  the  church  is  lukewarm  on  civic 
matters,  undemocratic  in  sympathy  and  methods, 
divisive  where  community  action  is  needed,  mediae- 
val in  thought,  class-conscious  in  personnel,  dumb 
and  inactive  when  confronted  with  the  issues  of 
social  justice.  Her  direct  influence  upon,  or 
control  of,  community  life  has  steadily  diminished 
from  Colonial  days  to  the  present  time.  Her 
interest  in  government  is  negative  or  critical,  and 
her  obligation  to  supply  the  state  with  servants  of 
superior  ability  and  high  moral  purpose  is  not 
realized  and  met. 

Quite  apart  from  the  important  matter  of  the 
form  of  government  under  which  a  people  may  be 
organized,  it  will  be  generally  conceded  that  the 
morality  of  those  holding  public  office  vitally  affects 
common  welfare.  Moral  failure  in  public  trust  not 
only  blights  the  popular  mind  with  the  frost  of 


132    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

cynicism,  but  allows  predatory  interests  to  rob  the 
whole  people,  who,  for  the  time  being,  have  no 
advocate  or  defender  other  than  the  publicly 
elected  official.  If,  therefore,  democracy  is  ever 
to  discover  and  retain  efficient  servants  after  the 
fashion  of  private  concerns,  she  will  need  the  best 
judgment  and  the  full  moral  support  of  church 
people.  Of  even  greater  importance  is  the  neces- 
sity of  maintaining  high  moral  standards  in  the 
citizenship  generally,  so  that  almost  any  popular 
choice  may  be  politically  safe,  and  that  malfeasance 
may  be  promptly  and  vigorously  punished.  To 
this  end  the  free  debate  of  public  questions  in  the 
light  of  the  highest  ethics  becomes  imperative. 

Such  being  the  case,  it  is  in  point  to  ask  whether 
the  church  supplies  such  leadership  to  the  state, 
whether  she  leavens  the  mass  with  such  working 
ideals  of  integrity  and  service  as  will  automatically 
right  governmental  wrongs  and  guarantee  pro- 
gressive righteousness,  and  whether  she  fosters 
the  enlightened  debate  of  public  questions.  The 
minority  standing  of  the  whole  church  group, 
however  weakened  by  sectarianism,  does  not  in 
itself  absolve  the  church  from  rendering  great 
service  to  the  state.  For  the  group  supplying 
leadership  always  exerts  an  influence  far  above  the 
ratio  of  its  numerical  strength.  Hence  the  question 
remains  whether  the  church  fosters  such  a  con- 
ception of  civic  duty  as  will  impel  her  adherents 


Adults  in  the  Church  School         133 

both  to  serve  in  public  capacity  and  to  do  their 
duty  at  the  polls.  Leaders  in  anti-saloon  propa- 
ganda report  40  to  60  per  cent  of  the  church  vote 
registered  in  the  cities  studied,  so  that  the  actual 
church  vote  probably  falls  below  half  of  her  voting 
strength. 

The  church  means  to  be  unselfish  and  really 
so  thinks  of  itself.  Contributors  to  its  equipment, 
its  ministry,  its  services,  feel  themselves  to  be  giving 
for  a  public  good.  They  mean  that  religious  oppor- 
tunity shall  be  thus  open  to  the  community.  Yet 
in  practice  the  matter  does  not  work  out  quite  so 
simply.  To  the  outsider  the  church  seems  to  be 
existing  simply  in  and  for  itself,  and  the  religious 
advantages  which  it  offers  seem  to  be  rather  con- 
descending in  their  character.  It  may  be  that  the 
popular,  unchurched  mind  is  too  suspicious  and  has 
learned  in  the  school  of  hard  knocks  to  look  for  the 
revenue  feature  behind  all  movements  as  well  as 
to  resent  superimposed  benefits;  but  certainly  the 
present  organization  and  standard  activities  of  the 
church  do  not  impress  the  mass  with  any  heroic 
proof  of  her  unselfishness.  More  recent  forms  of 
propaganda  for  the  Kingdom  of  God  through  the 
secular  and  organic  life  of  the  state  are  eliciting  a 
vast  amount  of  unpaid  service  for  the  public  good ; 
and  until  very  recently  the  church  has  hardly 
recognized  these  heroic  struggles  for  righteousness 
outside  her  walls. 


134    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

Contributors  to  most  of  these  reform  organiza- 
tions ask  no  return  in  comfortable  pews,  fine 
music,  and  aesthetic  solace,  but  only  that  the  cause 
of  human  justice  be  promoted.  The  socialist 
believes  that  his  cause  is  greater  than  that  of  the 
church,  the  trade-unionist  that  his  is  more  urgent, 
and  both  are  prepared  to  make  sacrifices  which 
compare  favorably  with  any  similar  exhibit  in  the 
modern  church.  Similarly,  most  of  the  societies 
working  for  reform  and  amelioration,  even  though 
they  be  often  supphed  with  impulse  and  ideal 
through  church  religion,  regard  their  propaganda 
as  more  urgent  than  ecclesiastical  effort.  The 
suspicion  that  sectarian  leaders  and  local  ministers 
are  animated  by  something  other  than  a  passion 
for  human  welfare  creeps  into  the  public  mind,  and 
the  man  of  the  street  discounts  the  paid  enthusiast 
who  often  betrays  the  fact  that  he  is  working  pri- 
marily for  his  church  and  not  disinterestedly  for  the 
common  good.  The  church  by  virtue  of  her  long 
history  and  substantial  success  in  attracting  the 
well-to-do  has  become  professionalized,  while  the 
younger  movements  of  the  struggling  classes  pos- 
sess more  of  the  initial  spirit  of  Christianity  when 
apostles  and  prophets  did  not  work  for  hire;  and 
membership  in  these  new  organizations  is  usually 
more  conscious  and  vital  than  it  is  in  the  older  body. 

Again,  the  internal  organization  of  the  local 
church,    even   when   ostensibly   democratic,   ever 


Adults  in  the  Church  School         135 

tends  toward  bureaucratic  control.  So  far  as  the 
preacher  is  concerned,  this  is  due  to  the  assumption 
that  he  speaks  ex  cathedra  and  has  some  sort  of 
authority  other  than  that  of  demonstrated  truth 
as  so  perceived  by  his  hearers.  But  the  common 
man  who  is  working  out  his  economic  and  social 
salvation  in  other  bodies  and  who  has  qualified  as  a 
democrat  abhors  a  muzzled  meeting.  For  him 
the  sanctity  of  the  truth  in  the  case  stands  above 
consecrated  buildings,  personages,  and  dictators. 
Furthermore,  in  many  churches  so  little  effort  is 
made  to  refer  matters  of  policy,  program,  election, 
and  expenditure  to  the  whole  body  for  decision 
that  the  people  become  supine  in  their  goodness  and 
almost  grateful  to  those  who,  with  presumably  the 
best  of  intentions,  nullify  self-government. 

As  any  given  church  becomes  large  and  pros- 
perous there  develops  a  tendency  to  remove  its 
government  from  the  rank  and  file.  The  usurpa- 
tion of  the  "ring"  is  not  by  design,  but  springs 
mainly  from  the  bother  of  maintaining  an  active 
and  therefore  real  democracy.  In  the  election  of 
officials  and  the  adoption  of  policies  and  budgets 
there  is  often  a  cut-and-dried  method  which  hardly 
preserves  the  form  of  democracy,  much  less  its 
substance.  Instances  are  known  where  members 
in  good  standing  have  been  refused  information 
as  to  the  church's  expenditures  on  its  standard 
activities;     which,    of    course,    implies    that    the 


136    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

contributor — and  therefore,  by  implication,  any 
or  all  of  the  members — might  be  kept  ignorant  of 
what  the  rulers  do.  In  so  far  as  such  practices 
obtain  the  spirit  of  democracy  is  violated,  for  self- 
government  permits  no  secrecy  in  the  handling  of 
the  common  funds.  The  church  must  meet  the 
standards  of  a  public  which  is  debating,  and  in 
some  instances  trying,  the  initiative,  referendum, 
and  recall. 

With  some  notable  exceptions  the  music  of  the 
church  takes  the  same  upper-class,  patronizing 
trend.  Money  which  might  have  been  spent  to 
educate  the  whole  body  in  glorious  and  unifying 
praise  and  in  the  training  of  large  numbers  of 
children  and  youth  to  participate  worthily  in 
public  worship  is  often  spent  on  a  few  imported 
singers,  who  give  a  high-class  and  critical  stamp 
to  the  service,  but  seldom  draw  out  the  congrega- 
tion in  the  joyful  abandon  of  democratic  praise. 
Again  the  psychology  is  that  of  a  superimposed, 
although  problematical,  benefit,  as  contrasted  with 
a  social  achievement  of  the  whole  body. 

It  is  perhaps  iconoclastic  to  suggest  that  the 
church  needs  to  re-examine  her  meetinghouse  in 
the  light  of  this  crude  and  relentless  spirit  of 
democracy.  Is  it  best  to  occupy  a  distinctive 
building  or  to  use  quarters  in  which  other  popular 
assemblies  of  the  people  gather  and  express  them- 
selves?    Should    the   place   in   which    religion    is 


Adults  in  the  Church  School         137 

advocated  possess  a  solemn  grandeur,  an  awesome 
and  aesthetic  worth,  a  crystallized  tradition  of  the 
might  and  sanctity  of  the  historic  church  ?  Should 
it  bow  the  soul  in  mute  acceptance  of  a  ministry 
which  it  and  its  officials  mediate,  and  send  men 
forth  pardoned,  purified,  and  serene  to  meet  the 
unceasing  struggle  of  the  outer  world  ?  Perhaps 
so;  but  if  this  be  all,  democracy  remains  unsatisfied. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  forward  movements  of 
the  church,  in  which  it  has  found  the  people,  have 
been  marked  by  unconventionality  and  extramural 
effort.  The  open  fields,  market  places,  street 
corners,  town  halls,  schoolhouses,  and  rough 
"tabernacles"  have  characterized  the  populariza- 
tion of  religion  from  the  time  of  Jesus  to  the  present 
day.  The  address  of  man  to  man  in  forum  fashion 
as  is  the  practice  in  politics  is  standard  democratic 
form.  Aesthetic  and  sedative  values  reside  in  the 
ecclesiastical  treatment,  but  the  implications  of 
the  separateness  of  religion  from  common  places 
and  from  common  life,  and  its  failure  thus  to  come 
to  grips  with  the  people,  as  well  as  its  shyness  of 
intellectual  struggle  in  the  open  without  fear  or 
favor,  have  made  the  religion  of  the  sanctuary  the 
religion  of  the  few. 

Some  maintain  that  America's  large  European 
immigration  demands  the  reproduction  here  of  the 
great  symbols  and  bulwarks  of  religion  as  set  forth 
in   the   imposing   cathedrals   of   the   Old   World. 


138    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

But  those  who  so  argue  do  not  reckon  with  democ- 
racy, lack  faith  in  the  abihty  of  America  to  work 
out  a  form  consonant  with  her  spirit,  and  forget 
that  the  immigrant  himself,  seeking  liberty  and 
larger  life,  is  very  tired  of  the  old  patriarchal 
system — which  he  regards  as  largely  an  imposition 
— and  is  passing  through  skepticism  toward  a 
religion  that  is  popularly  and  intellectually  based. 
The  church  which  seeks  to  serve  him  through  the 
old  architecture  of  monarchical  religion  will  prob- 
ably have  a  harder  task  than  the  group  which 
seeks  to  meet  him  on  the  democratic  level,  where  he 
may  be  paid  the  compliment  of  working  out  his  own 
salvation  with  as  much  honesty  and  independence 
as  he  exercises  in  his  other  groups,  social  and 
national. 

In  some  quarters  the  church  is  criticized  for 
condoning  or  fostering  social  stratification.  It  is 
thought  that  the  social  disabilities  imposed  upon 
the  negro  are  increased  by  the  church's  policy  of 
segregation,  and  that  the  assimilation  of  immigrants 
is  impeded  by  conserving  their  language  and 
customs  in  separate  church  organizations.  Un- 
doubtedly the  church  should  so  specialize  her 
method  as  to  be  able  to  minister  to  newcomers  in 
their  native  tongues.  But  to  erect  and  maintain 
separate  buildings  for  these  people  retards  assimila- 
tion and  stratifies  the  democracy.  In  this  way  the 
church  is  often  working  at  cross-purposes  with  the 


Adults  in  the  Church  School         139 

public  school,  and  long  after  the  children  have 
been  prepared  to  become  part  and  parcel  of  the 
common  American  life  the  church  will  be  found 
accentuating  by  its  separate  buildings,  organiza- 
tions, and  language  those  clannish  factors  which 
impede  a  hearty  and  reliable  democracy. 

For  obvious  and  perhaps  valid  reasons  little 
has  been  written  on  sectarianism  as  an  impediment 
to  social  action.  Yet,  with  due  respect  to  those 
who  are  trying  to  do  good  according  to  their  light 
and  ability,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  in  many 
places  denominationalism  impedes  or  arrests  com- 
munity effort  for  social  ends.  The  adherent  of  the 
struggling  church  tends  to  shorten  his  radius  of 
interest  to  that  of  the  invalid  institution,  to  consider 
its  support  the  full  measure  of  his  benefaction,  and 
to  suspect  the  motives  of  rival  churches  if  they 
essay  anything  more  than  a  similar  concern  for 
their  own  slender  tenure  of  life.  The  higher 
interests  of  the  community,  which  might  be  served 
by  combined  action  for  educational,  recreational, 
and  civic  improvement,  are  usually  neglected 
because  of  the  heavy  tax  for  the  maintenance  of 
superfluous  churches  and  because  these  serve  to 
keep  people  of  good-will  apart. 

When  these  divisions  are  further  accentuated  by 
strict  adherence  to  racial  lines,  so  that  impervious 
groups  are  maintained  behind  the  barriers  of  for- 
eign thought-forms  and  language  and  the  church 


I40    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

group  identifies  its  religion  with  non-participation 
in  the  manners  and  aims  of  the  community,  then 
the  church  becomes  a  serious  obstruction  to  the 
aims  of  the  state  and  is  morally  chargeable  with  a 
misuse  of  the  privileges  which  the  state  grants. 
The  unfortunate  tendency  to  live  on  the  community 
rather  than  for  and  with  it  is  fostered,  along  with 
the  disability  to  co-operate  intelligently  in  the 
common  task  of  government. 

The  gradual  alignment  of  the  church  and  the 
well-to-do  is  attested  by  their  present  partnership. 
Conversely  there  must  have  been  some  lack  of 
congeniality  to  account  for  the  absence  of  the 
struggling  classes.  For  certainly  both  their  social 
hunger  and  their  need  of  help  were  greater  than 
would  be  found  with  the  "respectables,"  while 
at  the  same  time  they  were  less  competent  to 
command  other  outlets.  Had  the  church  been 
democratic  and  socially  concerned,  rather  than 
ecclesiastic  and  self-centered,  there  is  no  reason  to 
doubt  that  she  would  have  succeeded  more  largely 
with  the  mass  than  with  the  class,  or  at  least 
equally  with  both. 

Another  difficult  element  enters  into  the  problem 
by  virtue  of  the  fact  that  the  symbols  and  content 
of  public  worship  are  largely  the  product  of  an 
undemocratic  age.  Only  in  small  degree  as  yet 
have  the  hopes  of  the  masses  risen  into  sacred  song, 
great  statements  of  faith,  and  adequate  common 


Adults  in  the  Church  School         141 

prayer.  The  historic  agencies  used  by  the  church 
are  rich  in  ministries  to  the  individual  soul  as 
contrasted  with  the  same  service  for  the  col- 
lective life.  Even  in  their  best  form  they  are 
the  voice  of  the  unworthy  suppliant  in  the  pres- 
ence of  an  absolute  monarch.  Without  wholly 
denying  the  validity  of  this  aspect  of  religion,  one 
feels  that  for  the  democracy  which  has  become 
conscious  there  remains  an  unsatisfied  demand,  an 
Immanuel  passion  as  contrasted  with  the  absentee 
potentate. 

So  also  the  theological  conceptions  of  the  church 
are  not  cast  in  terms  which  are  known  to  the  com- 
mon man.  The  preacher  may  speak  of  sin  as  a 
great,  undifferentiated  state,  with  explanations  as 
to  how  man  came  under  sin  and  how  the  hearer  may 
himself  be  extricated  from  this  state,  but  the 
public  mind  does  not  think  in  these  terms.  The 
intelligent  democrat  has  analyzed  sin  more  specifi- 
cally than  the  appointed  moral  leader.  To  him 
definite  sins  have  become  clearly  outlined.  He 
believes  that  their  prevention  is  more  important 
than  their  forgiveness,  and  that  prevention  is,  in 
a  very  large  measure,  possible.  The  point  of  view 
of  the  churchman  is  theological,  that  of  the  demo- 
crat is  social.  The  one  thinks  of  a  state  of  sin,  the 
other  of  a  condition  of  society  that  defeats  the  real 
ends  of  life.  The  one  seeks  to  change  the  spiritual 
status  on  a  basis  of  belief,  the  other  to  change  living 


142    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

conditions  by  direct  action.  Both  may  be  right, 
but  they  do  not  understand  each  other. 

The  church  says  children  are  unregenerate 
and  need  to  be  born  anew,  the  democrat  says 
many  of  them  are  victims  of  vicious  living  con- 
ditions imposed  by  greed  and  the  industrial  exploi- 
tation of  human  rights.  The  church  would  save 
them  by  the  mystery  of  baptism  or  of  faith,  the 
democrat  thinks  that  they  would  save  themselves 
in  a  fair  society  where  the  hopes  and  possibilities 
of  the  soul  might  reach  out  through  normal  human 
experience  to  some  sure  sense  of  an  Infinite 
Love. 

Similar  contrasts  exist  all  along  the  conscious 
boundary  between  church  and  mass.  Church 
membership  is  for  those  who  believe  thus  and  so, 
and  who  submit  to  a  certain  ritual.  These  are  the 
measures  of  excellence.  But  in  the  democracy 
social  conduct  that  is  fair  and  therefore  beneficial 
to  all  is  the  sole  consideration  for  rating  and  good 
citizenship.  The  ecclesiastic  will  admit  the  unself- 
ish person  only  on  certain  provisos  of  creed  and 
ritual,  and  whoever  qualifies  in  these  respects  is 
usually  immune  from  censorship  or  dismissal, 
although  his  social  conduct  may  be  subversive  of 
the  public  good,  extortionate,  and  unjust.  But 
the  standard  of  the  outside  world  has  to  do  only 
with  conduct,  reckoning  this  or  that  profession  as 
neither  here  nor  there. 


Adults  in  the  Church  School         143 

All  of  this  wide  difference  has  come  about  in  a 
fairly  traceable  way.  The  church  has  undergone 
a  progressive  loss  of  public  function,  as  for  example 
the  control  of  education  and  relief,  and  there  has 
crept  in  a  subtle  error,  to  the  effect  that  her 
responsibility  ceased  with  the  passing  over  of  these 
concerns  to  the  state.  She  lacked  the  vision  to  see 
society  whole,  to  work  for  the  community  in  its 
totality,  to  shepherd  all  the  people.  Denomina- 
tionalism  favored  irresponsibility.  Philanthropy 
supplanted  public  spirit,  ambulance  service  got 
more  attention  than  generalship.  Arrest  was 
inevitable,  and,  by  the  law  of  compensation,  she 
turned  with  greater  diligence  to  her  traditions 
while  the  democracy  marched  on  to  meet  its  trying 
problems. 

As  an  offset  to  this  tendency,  which  may  become 
pharisaic,  democracy  rightly  expects  the  church 
to  make  plain  to  all  men  her  redemptive  principle, 
her  formula  for  a  perfect  society.  From  democ- 
racy's viewpoint  the  church  is  not  very  efficient  in 
the  discharge  of  this  duty.  Her  failure  to  make 
her  ideal  ethic  that  of  industries  and  nations  may 
be  due  to  many  causes.  It  is  not  enough  to  fall 
back  upon  the  weakness,  inertia,  and  selfishness  of 
human  nature.  For  mankind,  and  especially  the 
youth  of  the  world,  gives  sufficient  proof  of  an 
illimitable  ability  to  respond  to  that  which  is 
difficult,  hazardous,  and  sacrificial.     Perhaps  it  is 


144    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

not  too  much  to  believe  that  in  every  normal  life 
there  comes  a  period  in  which  selfhood  demands 
that  very  thing  as  the  crown  of  existence,  the 
superb  assurance  of  causal  relation  to  one's  world. 
Even  within  the  church  only  trivial  use  is  made  of 
this  pregnant  idealism.  The  relay  of  new  life  so 
potential  for  world-betterment,  coming  over  the 
crest  that  lies  between  childhood  and  manhood, 
dribbles  down  to  commonplace  self-interest  because 
the  trumpet  call  is  not  heard  and  leadership  in  the 
fight  for  human  rights  is  lacking.  The  central 
meaning  of  the  gospel  is  not  made  plain  to,  nor 
adopted  by,  any  large  number  of  the  youth  of  the 
church. 

As  for  most  of  the  mature  and  aged,  the  gospel 
has  no  social  meaning  commensurate  with,  or 
related  to,  democracy's  problems.  It  is  as  if 
Jesus  spoke  in  another  room  and  his  articulate 
imperatives  reached  the  hearers  only  as  a  comfort- 
ing lullaby,  an  assurance  that  he  was  near,  but 
not  near  enough  to  disturb.  How  else  can  one 
explain  the  timid  seclusion  of  church  people  within 
half-empty  buildings,  the  sterility  of  their  summer 
religion,  their  failure  to  find  the  crowd,  wherever 
it  may  be,  and  to  compel  attention,  even  if  the 
attention  secured  were  only  hostile  ?  So  far  as 
the  "outsider"  is  concerned,  he  usually  does  not 
perceive  what  the  church  religionist  is  talking 
about.     His  supposition  is  that  someone  is  trying 


Adults  in  the  Chitrch  School         145 

to  make  converts  to  the  church,  intends  to  take 
up  a  collection,  is  earning  easy  money,  is  under- 
pinning a  top-heavy  industrialism  by  "sawdust- 
trail  "  methods,  or  is  ranting  in  an  unknown  tongue, 
which  tongue  is  traditional  theology.  The  obliga- 
gation  of  the  church  to  get  the  gospel  to  the  people 
as  dynamic  for  achieving  fulness  of  life,  to  make 
plain  its  consuming  righteousness  for  the  individual 
group,  or  nation,  irrespective  of  class  and  privilege, 
and  to  infold  all  men  in  brotherly  relationship 
is  an  obligation  awaiting  fulfilment.  American 
democracy  is  offering  a  fair  field  for  this  enterprise, 
with  her  own  future,  if  not  her  life,  at  stake.  If 
the  church  is  not  to  fail  in  this  critical  issue  she 
will  need  to  give  at  least  as  much  attention  to  the 
understanding  of  society  as  she  gives  to  her  sacred 
books  and  her  inherited  doctrines. 

Mastery  of  biblical  interpretation  and  church 
history  is  less  difficult  than  an  understanding  of 
modern  society.  It  is  easier  to  study  the  residue 
of  a  past  age  than  to  measure  the  contending  forces 
in  current  life  and  to  learn  their  moral  significance. 
Without  this  latter  ability  it  happens  that  the 
authority  of  the  remote  past,  with  its  uninterpreted 
ethics  of  the  dead,  is  often  used  to  halt  righteous 
reform.  People  in  general  do  not  know  the  sig- 
nificance of  historic  religion  for  modern  life,  and 
this  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  church  has  confined 
herself  too  exclusively  to  the  study  of  tradition 


146    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

and  has  not  performed  a  complete  interpretation. 
Democracy  has  a  moral  right  to  expect  that  inter- 
pretation shall  carry  through  to  the  active  interest- 
centers  of  her  own  life.  Anything  less  is  pedantry 
and  gets  society  nowhere. 

It  may  be  that  a  dim  sense  of  the  church's  failure 
to  meet  society's  collective  need  of  moral  leadership 
underlies  the  present  demand  that  she  confine 
herself  to  the  "gospel,"  implying  thereby  that  the 
gospel  is  concerned  solely  with  man's  relation  to 
God.  And  since  the  attempt  to  regulate  social 
conduct  is  so  fraught  with  the  danger  of  offending 
church  people,  it  is  thought  that  a  restriction  of 
the  church's  function  as  an  agent  of  religion  is 
desirable.  But  the  internal  advantage  of  such  a 
course  is  bound  to  be  attended  with  further  loss 
of  influence  in  the  democracy.  The  ethics  of 
society  in  general  would  then  prove  to  be  more 
aggressive,  vital,  and  urgent  than  that  of  the 
church  group. 

Recent  developments  of  the  democratic  spirit 
will  test  church  organization  in  new  ways.  The 
progressive  realization  of  woman's  suffrage,  growing 
logically  out  of  general  education  and  the  feminist 
movement,  is  rapidly  centering  the  attention  and 
effort  of  women  about  civic  affairs.  A  competitive 
bid  is  being  made  for  the  time  and  energy  which 
women  have  so  generously  given  to  the  church. 
During  the  past  decade  women  have  educated 


Adults  in  the  Church  School         147 

themselves,  principally  in  their  clubs,  to  understand 
and  attack  governmental  evils  which  threaten 
their  own  and  the  public's  interests,  especially  in 
the  humanitarian  field;  and  perhaps  the  bulk  of 
humanitarian  legislation  has  been  proposed  and 
urged  by  them. 

This  means  that  the  most  intelligent  women  and 
those  with  capacity  for  leadership  are  turning 
from  relief  to  reform  measures,  from  philanthropy 
to  civics;  and  unless  the  church  provides  scope 
and  expression  for  this  redirected  energy  she  will 
suffer  the  loss  of  that  active  support  which  the 
women  have  so  readily  given.  A  further  implica- 
tion of  this  trend  is  the  necessity  of  giving  women 
a  larger  representation  on  the  official  boards  of  the 
church.  Democracy  demands  that  representation 
be  substantially  balanced  or,  at  least,  placed  upon 
a  basis  of  merit  and  efficiency  quite  apart  from 
any  consideration  of  sex. 

From  the  foregoing  criticisms  no  conclusion 
should  be  drawn  as  to  the  imminent  decease  of  the 
church.  For,  while  no  one  can  reliably  forecast 
how  the  newer  altruism  of  justice  will  clothe  or 
incorporate  itself,  only  a  poor  historian  would 
predict  that  the  church  will  pass  away  because  of 
its  present  maladjustment  to  democracy.  The 
vitality  of  social  institutions  of  long  standing  is 
almost  unlimited,  and  in  the  case  of  the  church 
there  is  the  added  conviction  of  being  divinely 


148    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

ordained.  Because  of  these  two  facts  she  can 
continue  far  beyond  the  day  of  her  social  utility 
and  can,  no  doubt,  last  long  enough  to  make  or 
suffer  the  necessary  adjustments. 

If,  however,  conformity  to  the  democratic 
demand  proves  to  be  very  slow,  the  experience  will 
be  no  different  from  that  of  the  schools  which  have 
had  more  reason  to  respond  because  supported  by 
the  whole  citizenship.  Yet  the  aristocratic  policy 
of  the  schools — dictated  by  the  professional  class 
through  university  standards — is  only  now  reluc- 
tantly yielding  to  the  pressure  of  democracy  which 
demands  a  training  suitable  for  the  many  as 
against  a  culture  limited  to  the  few.  Surely  the 
higher  schools,  which  have  shaped  education,  have 
excelled  the  church  in  avoiding  live  issues  and  in 
maintaining  a  decorous  post-mortem  interest  in 
the  life  of  the  people;  and  yet  the  whole  system 
from  top  to  bottom  is  now  changing  and  becoming 
socially  dynamic.  So  may  it  be  with  the  church 
as  she  faces  the  situation  and  becomes  less  occupied 
with  tradition. 

Into  the  forum  movement  which  is  now  so 
rapidly  developing  within  the  church,  many  of 
these  questions  will  come  for  conscientious  con- 
sideration, with  the  result  that  the  facts  as  set 
forth  in  Sunday-evening  and  week-night  sessions 
will  certainly  stir  the  church  to  a  more  vigorous 
attitude  on  questions  of  social  morality  and  will 


Adults  in  the  Church  School         149 

therefore  re-enlist  the  interest  of  the  public.  The 
abnormal  fear  of  creating  any  issue  will  give  place 
to  wholesome  partisanship  with  the  right.  Not  to 
avoid  issues,  but  to  be  on  the  right  side  of  issues 
and  to  clarify  them  for  the  popular  mind,  is  the 
essential  of  moral  leadership,  and  in  the  forum 
tendency  of  the  present  time  the  church  is  headed 
toward  that  goal. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  the  function  of  the  church 
needs  clear  definition.  Hers  is  a  composite  group 
which  by  its  very  nature  is  incapable  of  class 
propaganda.  The  other  social  groups  whose 
component  members  are  firmly  knit  together  by  a 
common  economic  interest  must  constitute  the 
fighting  units  for  their  respective  reforms.  No  one 
of  these  militant  groups  is  altogether  right  or 
irreproachable  in  the  methods  used,  and  hence  the 
church  cannot  be  the  agent  of  any  one.  Her  great 
function  consists  in  her  impartial  adherence  to 
righteousness  and  in  her  provision  of  a  composite 
group  animated  by  the  ethics  of  Jesus  into  which 
these  contending  efforts  may  come  for  frank  and 
brotherly  consideration.  The  hope  of  an  honorable 
conciliation  which  compromises  no  single  item  of 
righteousness  rests  largely  with  the  church  if  she 
can  maintain  this  open  and  unfettered  attitude 
— an  eagerness  for  the  truth,  plainly  spoken  and 
reverently  considered,  in  an  atmosphere  of  broth- 
erly love. 


150    The  Chuech  School  of  Citizenship 

This  being  the  case,  it  is  probable  that  the 
advocates  of  radical  reform  will  continue  to  be 
dissatisfied  with  the  church.  She  will  at  best 
serve  chiefly  to  conserve  the  gains  made  in  social 
morality  and  to  sanction  certain  reforms  which 
she  cannot  directly  undertake.  The  social  creed 
of  American  Protestantism  as  formulated  by  the 
Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in 
America  is  an  index  of  this  conserving  and  sanction- 
ing function.  Therein  the  major  humanitarian 
reforms  of  our  time  are  commended  and  a  publi- 
city bureau  for  the  church  conscience  is  created. 
Through  the  Anti-Saloon  League  the  church  is 
vigorously  in  the  field  for  temperance  reform. 
This  must  serve  as  good  training  and  as  intro- 
duction to  the  treatment  of  other  problems  which 
result  from  the  same  commercialism.  For,  al- 
though the  abolition  of  the  saloon  will  undoubtedly 
diminish  misery  and  vice,  there  will  remain  other 
social  causes  which  the  church  cannot  long  over- 
look. Already  special  days  are  dedicated  to  the 
consideration  of  labor,  child  welfare,  prison  reform, 
and  the  prevention  of  disease,  the  method  being 
identical  with  that  of  the  temperance  propaganda, 
viz.,  sanction  within  the  church  body  and  func- 
tion through  other  agencies.  Furthermore  the 
Sunday  schools  are  rapidly  organizing  classes  in 
welfare  courses,  which  must  lead  to  civics,  and 
which  in  themselves  provide  some  training  in  self- 
government. 


Adults  in  the  Church  School         151 

No  doubt  much  of  the  criticism  of  the  church  is 
just.  Many  honestly  question  the  wisdom  of 
diverting  so  much  social  energy  into  this  channel 
when  direct  action  seems  to  promise  more  imme- 
diate benefit.  Yet  for  society  to  despair  of  so 
great  a  dynamic  as  the  religious  sanction  in  the 
hearts  of  those  who  would  conserve  its  welfare  or 
cure  its  ills  is  deliberately  to  use  less  than  the  full 
and  normal  dynamic  for  human  betterment. 
Church  people  are  awakening  slowly  because  they 
are  comfortable.  It  takes  some  time  to  grasp 
what  religious  living  means  in  this  twentieth 
century.  Their  attention  has  long  been  diverted 
elsewhere.  When  they  behold  the  cause  of  human 
justice  in  the  present  order  as  something  more 
than  the  concern  of  mortals,  as  being,  indeed,  the 
cause  of  God,  they  will  respond  with  that  peculiar 
totality  of  self  which  inheres  in  religion. 

The  state  has  consistently  recognized  this 
potentiahty  and  has  uniformly  acknowledged  the 
religious  body  as  its  spiritual  partner  in  social 
control.  But  on  the  principle  of  democracy,  the 
church,  comprising  but  a  part  of  the  people,  is 
answerable  in  certain  respects  to  the  common- 
wealth, composed  of  all  the  people.  Democracy 
has  a  moral  right  to  demand  reasonable  returns 
for  the  privilege  and  protection  guaranteed  the  re- 
ligious body.  Churches  in  the  United  States  enjoy 
great  liberty  in  matters  of  faith  and  of  propa- 
ganda; they  are  usually  tax-exempt,  and  in  many 


152    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

communities  the  meetinghouse  is  protected  against 
the  near  encroachment  of  competitive  amusements, 
such  as  saloons  and  theaters.  The  value  of  the 
church  in  conserving  morals  and  public  order  is 
thus  recognized.  Her  ritual  in  solemnizing  mar- 
riage and  burial,  in  identifying  the  best  mores  with 
the  will  of  God,  her  frequent  challenge  to  better 
living,  and  her  distribution  of  helps,  spiritual  and 
material,  constitute  an  aid  to  government;  while 
her  training  of  the  young  in  the  knowledge  and 
attitudes  of  religion  is  explicitly  part  of  her  public 
task. 

Such  service  is  not  calculable  in  severe  statistical 
form  and  seldom  rises  to  conscious  appreciation 
in  the  public  mind.  But  it  is  noteworthy  that 
few  people  will  choose  to  live  in  a  churchless  com- 
munity. Perhaps  if  the  thinking  of  today  were 
less  mechanistic  and  not  so  shortly  tethered  to  the 
ego-economic  stake,  there  might  also  be  a  larger 
appreciation  of  the  value  to  public  welfare  in  the 
church's  perennial  ministry  to  the  deepest  emo- 
tional needs  of  the  citizen,  and  in  her  bold  but 
imperfect  attempt  to  give  to  life  some  unifying 
philosophy  and  some  meaning  commensurate  with 
the  soul's  demand.  The  nation  forgets  that  need; 
industry  ignores  it;  but  the  church,  even  when 
captured  by  nationalism  and  drugged  by  indus- 
trialism, still  pleads  the  everlasting  rights  of 
the  individual  soul.     The  nation  says  "might,"  the 


Adults  in  the  Church  School         153 

industry  "wealth,"  and  the  church  "love."  The 
pursuit  of  unmitigated  self-interest  on  the  part 
of  men  and  nations  is  certainly  that  "broad  road 
that  leadeth  to  destruction;  and  many  be  they 
that  go  in  thereat."  It  may  seem  fantastic  and 
conceited,  but,  in  the  main,  the  church  tries  to 
save  society  from  chaos  by  interposing  steadily  the 
basal  principle  of  Jewish  and  Christian  ethics — 
the  doctrine  of  brotherly  love.  She  is  champion 
of  the  community  of  good-will,  knit  together  by 
spiritual  bonds  and  dedicated  to  the  realization 
of  the  normal  family  relationship  throughout  the 
world. 

Granting,  then,  that  as  an  agency  of  social 
control  and  human  welfare  the  church  holds  in 
fact  some  such  place  as  is  indicated  by  the  govern- 
mental attitude  toward  her,  the  question  remains 
as  to  what  assurance  the  government,  or  all  the 
people,  may  demand  of  the  church  that  she  is 
adequately  performing  those  functions  for  which 
she  holds  the  people's  tacit  or  explicit  franchise. 
To  put  it  more  concretely:  if,  from  the  viewpoint 
of  democracy,  the  church  is  a  public  utility  col- 
lecting large  sums  of  money  and  aiming  to  render 
services  from  which  the  state  deliberately  refrains, 
has  the  state  the  right  to  demand  anything  by  way 
of  the  standardization  or  efficiency  of  those  services 
and  to  expect  a  wise  and  reasonable  use  of  the 
money  solicited  from  the  citizens  ?     In  other  words, 


154    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

is  the  state  bound  to  see  to  it  that  the  agency  of 
reHgion  gives  the  community  a  just  return  for  value 
received  ? 

One  point  of  approach  to  such  a  consideration 
is  the  important  matter  of  the  qualifications  of 
the  professional  ministrant  of  religion.  In  the 
professions  of  law  and  medicine  the  duty  of  the 
state  to  protect  its  citizens  by  requiring  a  certain 
minimum  standard  of  training  for  practitioners  is 
generally  accepted  as  sound  and  reasonable  public 
policy.  In  fact,  the  state  is  no  longer  negative  in 
this  task.  For,  in  addition  to  restricting  the 
personal  liberty  of  incompetent  would-be  prac- 
titioners, she  undertakes  increasingly  to  provide 
that  the  health  service  needful  to  the  community 
be  furnished  by  the  medical  profession.  Medicine 
is  rapidly  passing  from  a  private  concern,  living 
upon  the  fees  of  unfortunate  patients,  to  a  social 
service  of  vast  sweep  and  fine  morale.  Pure-food 
legislation  is  but  the  application  of  the  same 
principle  to  less  professional  concerns. 

Reasons  for  the  greater  laxity  in  setting  mini- 
mum educational  standards  for  accredited  special- 
ists in  the  care  of  individual  souls  and  in  the  shaping 
of  social  morality  must  be  found  either  in  the 
nature  of  religion  itself,  as  bearing  no  necessary 
relation  to  intellectual  training  and  scientific  fact, 
or  in  the  practical  impossibility  of  defining  what 
constitutes  religious  leadership.     Undoubtedly  the 


Adults  in  the  Church  School         155 

present  method  of  leaving  ordination  requirements 
wholly  to  the  sect  or  to  the  local  congregation, 
whatever  it  may  accomplish  in  the  mobility,  local 
color,  and  numerical  strength  of  the  ministry, 
leaves  the  people  at  large  without  sufficient 
guaranty  of  the  educational  fitness  of  ordained 
preachers. 

Just  why  social  control  remains  incoherent  at 
this  point  is  rather  difficult  to  discover.  The 
general  opinion  seems  to  be  that  any  tampering 
with  "liberty  of  soul"  would  result  in  more  harm 
than  good.  The  principle  involved,  even  if  abused, 
is  too  sacred  to  be  sharply  challenged.  It  may 
also  be  that  the  accepted  laissez  faire  in  religious 
competition  finds  foundation  in  the  common  belief 
in  "revelation"  as  a  past,  fixed,  and  ended  achieve- 
ment. If  the  body  of  religious  truth  has  been 
given,  inerrant  and  endued  with  a  divine  right 
per  se,  and  is  so  recorded  that  all  may  read,  then 
the  qualification  of  the  religious  leader  is  a  matter 
of  biblical  rather  than  of  social  training.  He  is 
answerable,  not  to  the  world  of  facts,  but  to  the 
God  of  "revelation." 

The  right  of  the  government  to  prevent  wasteful 
duplication  of  public  and  semipublic  service  in  the 
interest  of  all  the  people  is  by  no  means  clearly 
defined;  and,  for  example,  while  a  dozen  milk 
wagons  rattle  back  and  forth  over  a  route  that 
might  be  served  by  one  delivery,  and  a  common 


156    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

commodity  necessary  to  every  family  and  already 
subject  to  municipal  inspection  is  carried  about 
by  silly  competition  at  great  cost  to  the  consuming 
public,  it  would  be  premature  to  expect  a  much 
more  rational  method  among  the  vendors  of  a 
commodity  so  optional  and  variable  as  church  re- 
ligion. 

Yet  it  is  possible  to  forecast  a  time  when  public 
opinion,  which  is  becoming  increasingly  sensitive 
to  the  inutility  and  costliness  of  a  ministry  over- 
crowded by  those  who  are  unfit  and  therefore 
obstructive  to  united  community  effort  for  good, 
will  demand,  perhaps  by  law,  a  more  adequate 
education  for  the  professional  religious  leader. 
Such  insistence  upon  a  minimum,  although  not 
uniform,  education  for  the  professional  who  lives 
by  religion  would  not  necessarily  violate  the  prin- 
ciple of  religious  liberty  for  the  individual.  It 
would  only  enforce  the  fact  that  the  assumption 
of  a  social  task  as  a  life-calling  must  not  be  the 
presumption  of  ignorance  or  weak  sentimentality, 
but  the  rational  service  of  an  enlightened  and 
trained  mind. 

A  public  policy  of  this  sort  requiring  a  minimum 
of  general  education  equivalent  to  a  Bachelor's 
degree  would  bear  upon  the  church's  discharge  of 
her  just  functions  as  a  public  institution  in  yet 
another  way.  For  the  professional  specialties  still 
reserved  to  the  denominational  theological  semi- 


Adults  in  the  Church  School         157 

nary  would  be  saved  from  narrowness  by  the 
preceding  liberal  education,  since  the  college  man, 
grounded  in  empirical  and  historical  method  and 
awakened  by  the  social  sciences,  swings  from 
sectarianism  to  community  interest,  from  competi- 
tion with  variant  believers  to  a  campaign  for 
moral  objectives.  The  man  who  in  motive  and 
character  is  fit  to  enter  the  ministry  would  by 
virtue  of  such  training  seek  to  align  and  unify  the 
religious  forces  of  a  parish  so  as  best  to  serve  the 
community  life. 

It  seems  highly  imperative  in  the  present  state 
of  American  democracy  that  the  bonds  which 
make  for  coherence  and  unity  be  greatly  strength- 
ened and  that  some  cause  more  compelling  than 
the  residuary  nationalism  of  the  immigrant  or 
its  revival  in  the  native-born  be  brought  to  the 
fore.  Socialism  has  served  somewhat  in  this 
capacity,  but  it  is  quite  possible  that  a  serious 
acceptance  of  the  Christian  teaching  of  human 
brotherhood  and  the  application  of  the  family  ideal 
to  the  entire  community  of  men  and  nations  is 
the  only  solution  for  class  and  race  divisiveness. 
Something  more  commanding  and  idealistic  than 
the  appeal  to  party  and  national  symbols  is 
necessary  in  order  that  the  citizen  may  rise  from 
impulsive  response  to  secondary  motives  to  moral 
response  to  an  end  so  exalted  as  to  carry  the  value 
of  religion.     The  salvation  of  a  democracy  which 


158    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

shall  cherish  the  well-being  of  all  mankind  as  it 
does  that  of  its  own  citizens  rests  with  religion. 

Despite  the  fact  that  religious  organizations  are 
often,  wittingly  or  unwittingly,  recruited  to  un- 
christian national  ambition,  the  fact  remains  that 
for  both  internal  and  international  brotherhood  the 
world  depends  chiefly  upon  the  religious  prophet 
and  the  exercise  of  Christlike  altruism.  Practically 
the  only  international  strands  holding  in  the  war- 
rent  world  of  today  are  those  of  the  Red  Cross  and 
of  the  equally  valiant  service  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  with  the  armies  and  in  the 
prison  camps  of  Europe.  These  testify  that  the 
so-called  moratorium  of  Christianity  is  by  no 
means  complete. 

Now,  whether  one  looks  out  upon  this  vast  field 
or  confines  his  attention  to  the  most  ordinary 
community,  he  is  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
hope  of  survival  of  any  human  society  worthy  of 
the  name  rests  with  this  doctrine  of  love.  The 
machinery  of  government,  even  when  carried  to 
the  highest  point  of  efficiency,  will  not  guarantee 
that  human  beings  will  live  together  as  befits  man. 
The  spirit  infusing  the  process  determines  success 
or  failure.  The  kind  of  living  itself  is  the  real 
reward.  In  the  last  analysis  the  achievement  of 
democracy  is  not  measured  in  things,  but  in  fulness 
of  life;  and  when  fair  discount  has  been  made, 
does  not  the  church,  taken  as  a  whole,  stand  for 


Adults  in  the  Church  School         159 

that  abundant  life  which  the  founder  of  Christianity 
proclaimed  as  his  mission  to  the  world  ? 

It  is  therefore,  perhaps,  a  tribute  to  an  idealism, 
like  unto  her  own  at  its  best,  that  democracy 
fosters  the  church,  believing  that  in  an  organization 
whose  selective  principle  is  the  teaching  of  Jesus 
there  is  the  greatest  likelihood  that  the  highest 
life-values  attainable  in  any  society  will  be  demon- 
strated. Hence  the  church  carries  a  certain  self- 
imposed  obligation  as  being  a  proving-ground 
for  the  finest  possibilities  of  human  association. 
Within  the  biblical  concept  of  the  church,  as  in  its 
sacred  status  defined  by  theologians,  there  is  this 
rich  and  positive  consciousness,  explaining  and 
mitigating  somewhat  a  separateness  which  has  at 
times  seemed  aloof  and  non-social  to  the  outsider. 

Turning  to  the  distinctly  educational  task  of 
the  church  we  find  that  the  attempt  to  domineer 
knowledge  so  that  scientific  findings  shall  be  in  line 
with  tradition  is  obsolescent.  But  there  emerges 
from  the  futile  and  broken  defenses  of  the  church 
in  this  quarter  a  more  glorious  and  positive  task. 
It  is  not  enough  that  opposition  give  way  to  con- 
cession. Concession  must  become  indorsement  and 
eager  support.  In  order  most  largely  to  serve 
mankind  the  church  must  stand  for  unfettered 
research.  Only  by  so  doing  may  she  hope  to 
command  for  human  service  the  findings  of  the 
most    patient    and     accurate    scholarship.     Her 


i6o    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

religious  education  is  not  an  attempt  to  keep 
knowledge  in  line  with  tradition,  but  rather  to 
enforce  her  imperative  of  brotherly  love  in  every 
application  of  the  growing  power  of  knowledge 
freely  pursued.  All  processes  of  knowledge  are 
imfettered,  but  every  finding  is,  by  her  philosophy 
of  life,  dedicated  to  human  service.  Thus  she 
makes  education  religious  by  hallowing  its  objec- 
tive. Inventions  and  discoveries  are  for  the 
realization  of  her  ideal  of  a  perfect  society.  The 
unsocial  conception  of  personal  profit  from  superior 
or  advanced  knowledge  is  transmuted  into  a 
proportionate  obligation  to  benefit  mankind.  To 
Christianize  the  use  of  knowledge  and  that  other 
form  of  power,  wealth,  would  mean  almost  a 
complete  realization  of  the  highest  conceivable 
democracy.  No  agency  in  society  today  is  held 
more  clearly  responsible  for  the  effective  presenta- 
tion of  this  ideal  than  is  the  Christian  church. 

In  religious  education  of  the  more  technical 
sort  a  mutual  obligation  to  get  together  rests  upon 
church  and  state  alike;  the  state  being  responsible, 
in  its  school  system,  for  the  granting  of  time  and 
opportunity  for  religious  training  and  the  church 
being  responsible  for  the  organization  and  use  of 
such  time  and  opportunity.  The  deadlock  occa- 
sioned by  sectarianism  and  resulting  in  the 
exclusion  of  formal  religion  from  public  education 
must  be  broken  by  a  more  sensible  view  of  team 


Adults  in  the  Church  School         i6i 

work  and  a  right  division  of  labor.  Provisions 
whereby  various  reUgious  bodies  may  undertake 
the  religious  nurture  of  their  children  in  periods 
designated  by  the  school  authorities  seem  to  be 
meeting  with  favor  and  success.  The  church  is 
under  obligation  to  use  these  growing  opportunities 
efficiently  and  to  warrant  democracy's  gradual 
recognition,  in  the  public-school  system,  of  the  fact 
that  the  moral  life  grounded  in  religion  is  no  mean 
asset  to  the  state.  The  utter  silence  of  the  public 
school,  implying  the  non-existence  or  negligibility 
of  the  religious  interest,  may  yet  be  corrected  in 
this  way,  with  proper  respect  and  great  gain  to 
all  concerned.  The  raw  materialism  and  bald 
self-interest,  couched  in  the  specious  garb  of 
"efficiency,"  may  yet  learn  a  great  deal  from  this 
co-operation  of  the  most  distinctly  altruistic  and 
soul-respecting  group  in  our  midst.  Until  the 
state  is  prepared  heartily  to  recognize  this  fact  and 
to  welcome  such  co-operation,  she  cannot  justly 
criticize  the  church  for  failing  to  make  her  full 
contribution  toward  righteous  citizenship. 

Another  function  which  democracy  expects  of 
the  church  is  that  of  bridging  the  gulf  between  the 
law-abiding  and  the  criminal  classes.  The  church 
is  the  chief  exponent  of  forgiveness  and  moral 
reform  for  the  individual.  Her  religion  is  one  of 
hope  for  those  who  have  fallen  into  vice  and  crime. 
The  bonds  of  fatalism  and  the  crushing  judgment 


i62    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

of  society  which  enthrall  and  depress  the  offender 
have  never  paralyzed  her  practical  faith  in  the 
moral  resources  of  the  individual  and  the  power  of 
recovery  which  may  be  found  in  divine  help.  The 
actual  results  of  rescue  work  constitute  evidence 
which  no  fair  mind  can  wholly  reject.  Quite  apart 
from  difference  of  opinion  as  to  any  transcendental 
element  involved,  it  is  true  that  the  message  and 
ministry  of  religion  have  served  to  reconstruct 
many  a  broken  life  and,  in  an  emotion  running 
deeper  than  the  grooves  of  evil  habit,  to  weld  the 
broken  parts  into  new  and  masterful  personality. 
No  other  set  of  people  competes  for  this  particular 
work. 

However,  something  needs  to  be  added  to  the 
more  spectacular  and  occasional  transformations 
thus  wrought.  The  pitfalls  and  injustice  resulting 
in  crime  must  be  removed,  and  the  vengeance 
theory  with  which  society  blinds  itself  to  these 
must  give  place  to  humane  and  reformatory 
effort.  Here,  as  in  the  case  of  the  public  schools, 
the  church  has  been  too  much  left  out  of  the  reckon- 
ing. Possibly  she  has  not  pressed  forward  as  an 
eager  partner  of  the  state  in  the  understanding  and 
treatment  of  the  criminal.  Her  representatives 
have  not  been  close  enough  to  court  and  jail  and 
prison  to  undertake  a  fair  share  of  the  difficult  task 
of  saving  the  culprit  to  his  better  self  and  to  society. 
The  complexity  of  the  machinery,  the  vast  pro- 


Adults  in  the  Church  School         163 

portions  of  crime  in  our  great  cities,  and  the 
fragmentary  nature  of  Protestant  effort  have  made 
the  religious  counselor  too  often  an  absentee  in  the 
case  of  men  and  families  passing  through  the 
dreadful  ordeal  of  broken  law. 

Not  only  so,  but  in  all  probationary  methods 
whereby  the  offender,  young  or  old,  is  being  coached 
back  into  ways  of  integrity  and  social  behavior, 
there  is  almost  no  co-operation  between  church 
and  state.  If  pains  were  taken  to  connect  the 
paroled  prisoner  or  the  reformatory  graduate  with 
the  pastor  of  his  persuasion  in  the  locality  to  which 
he  goes,  much  might  be  done  to  make  this  experi- 
ment in  faith  more  largely  successful.  So  also  in 
the  genesis  of  crime,  and  more  particularly  in  the 
first  outer oppings  of  juvenile  delinquency,  it  would 
be  a  considerable  asset  if  police  and  probation 
ofl&cers  and  judges  would  refer  these  cases  at  once 
to  the  local  pastor  representing  the  religious  affili- 
ation of  the  person  or  family  concerned.  The 
church  could  add  her  support  to  the  best  efforts  of 
the  state.  It  is  interesting  and  pertinent  to  know 
that  almost  no  family  considers  itself  isolated  from 
every  religious  group.  The  strands  of  connection 
may  be  tenuous  or  chiefly  imaginary  but  the  court 
records  show  an  almost  constant  claim  of  relation- 
ship to  some  religious  fold.  If  ever  the  church  has 
opportunity  to  render  superb  service  it  is  at  this 
very  time  when  the  famil)'  is  face  to  face  with  the 


164    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

probable  humiliation  and  loss  of  one  of  its  members; 
and  because  it  can  render  distinctive  help  not 
offered  by  any  other  agency  in  this  crisis  it  should 
be  an  acknowledged  and  welcome  partner  of  the 
state. 

Such  partnership  reaches  out  into  many  fields, 
including  among  others  the  drunkard,  the  profli- 
gate, and  the  erring  woman.  The  hope  of  the 
state  to  cure  by  legal  barriers  alone  those  crimes 
which  are  grounded  in  appetite,  passion,  and  lust 
is  heavily  discounted  by  experience.  While  some 
improvement  of  conditions  will  result  from  strict 
laws  vigilantly  enforced,  the  recovery  of  an  inner 
control  which  wills  and  does  what  is  right  depends 
most  frequently  upon  the  dynamic  which  religion 
supplies.  Furthermore,  the  establishment  of  a 
public  opinion  favorable  to  social  recovery  rests 
upon  the  successful  promulgation  of  the  doctrine 
of  brotherly  love,  which  opens  an  upward  way  for 
the  unfortunate  and  erring.  Remove  this  religious 
temper  from  society,  and  the  offender,  whose 
experience  at  the  hands  of  the  law  usually  creates 
or  confirms  his  antisocial  grudge,  will  be  but  an 
animal  in  a  cage;  or,  if  he  gets  loose,  his  main  joy 
will  be  in  retaliation  against  a  merciless  social  order. 
The  church,  rightly  understood  and  actually 
functioning  in  this  setting,  is  a  door  of  hope  which 
society  greatly  needs  and  should  more  generously 
use.     The  emotionalism  of  the  appeal  that  has 


Adults  in  the  Church  School         165 

proved  effective  with  the  flagrantly  unsocial  should 
not  blind  very  proper  persons  to  the  fact  that 
revolution  is  not  a  drawing-room  nicety.  One 
should  reflect  also  that  the  dearth  of  legitimate 
emotion  is  so  constant  in  our  mechanistic  society, 
that  nickel  shows,  ball  games,  and  theatrical  bom- 
bast are  thronged  by  those  who  seek  some  sort  of 
reaction  to  testify  that  they  are  alive.  The  church 
may  legitimately  use  for  moral  ends  and  society's 
good  some  of  the  water  that  is  splashing  over  the 
artificial  dam.  She  may  save  many  citizens  from 
the  horrible  sense  of  life's  inutility  and  give  another 
chance  to  those  who  might  only  be  a  nuisance  to 
themselves  and  a  plague  upon  society. 

The  health  interest  of  the  people  also  offers 
opportunity  for  the  church  to  assist  in  public 
service.  The  fact  that  church  congregations  are 
in  aggregate  and  regularity  of  attendance  and  in 
average  ability  unsurpassed  by  any  other  meetings 
in  the  community  indicates  an  opportunity  to 
serve  the  state  by  the  presentation  of  such  subjects 
as  public  health,  hygiene,  sanitation,  and  health 
insurance.  The  proportion  of  the  gospel  devoted 
to  this  interest  is  remarkable,  and  the  church  is 
in  true  alignment  with  her  mission  when  she  acts 
as  partner  with  the  state  in  the  spread  of  life- 
saving  information.  Hence,  through  pulpit,  class 
instruction,  and  exhibit,  the  publicity  side  of  health 
propaganda   may    be    aided,    while    the   financial 


1 66    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

support  given  to  volunteer  agencies  that  anticipate 
and  lead  public  effort  in  combating  sickness  is  no 
small  part  of  the  church's  service.  So  also  in  the 
full  or  partial  support  of  visiting  nurses,  church 
hospitals,  orphanages,  homes  for  the  aged,  etc., 
the  church  is  rendering,  in  all,  a  very  considerable 
aid  to  the  state,  and  ideally,  at  least,  infuses  such 
service  with  a  spirit  of  personal  concern  that  tends 
to  disappear  from  state  agencies  when  they  become 
perfunctory  or  fall  a  prey  to  spoils  politics.  Any- 
how, in  addition  to  the  prosaic  warmth  of  the  iron 
radiator,  these  recipients  of  public  care,  being 
human,  need  the  cheer  of  love's  lire  on  the  open 
hearth.  Democracy  expects  such  service  to  radi- 
ate from  the  church  and  is  disappointed  only 
when  religion  is  content  with  her  philanthropic 
ministry  to  the  ills  flowing  from  social  imperfection 
and  injustice  and  fails  to  attack  the  underlying 
economic  causes. 

Also  in  the  matter  of  providing  wholesome 
opportunity  for  sociability  the  church  does  much 
and  is  expected  to  do  more.  The  popularity  of  the 
saloon  and  the  public  dance  hall  indicates,  among 
other  things,  a  shortage  of  suitable  provision  for 
social  exchange.  The  physical  equipment  of  the 
church  to  relieve  this  pressure  and  to  direct  it 
into  happy  experience  often  surpasses  her  willing- 
ness to  undertake  the  task.  Certain  negative  or 
anemic  views  of  life,  together  with  some  fear  of 


Adults  in  the  Church  School         167 

becoming  ''worldly,"  impede  a  vigorous  social 
policy.  Hence  youth's  quest  for  social  romance  is 
needlessly  exploited  by  greed  and  often  debased  in 
the  process.  Furthermore,  a  vast  number  of  the 
more  timid,  including  adults,  will  go  along  with 
almost  no  group  experience  outside  the  family, 
imless  the  church  provides  outlet,  inducement, 
and  direction.  It  is  no  small  benefit  to  the  common 
life  to  have  this  process  of  socialization  and  neigh- 
borliness  fostered  by  the  church.  The  forced 
isolation  of  city  dwellers  not  only  induces  social 
irresponsibility,  which  means  poor  citizenship,  but 
precipitates  many  into  wrongdoing  which  would 
have  been  impossible  under  the  friendly  surveil- 
lance of  local  acquaintance  and  neighborliness. 
Taken  all  in  all,  there  is  probably  no  social  agency 
that  is  doing  more  than  the  church  in  contributing 
to  this  defensive  friendliness,  which  in  turn  is 
a  necessary  ingredient  in  good  citizenship.  The 
democratic  experience  of  the  mass  and  other  forms 
of  public  worship,  augumented  by  a  generous 
program  of  sociability,  means  a  large  contribution 
to  public  welfare. 

In  times  past  ecclesiastical  architecture  has 
adorned  the  state.  The  church  holds  a  conviction 
that  goodness  and  beauty  are  destined  to  coincide. 
Her  doctrine  of  grace,  conception  of  heaven,  music, 
painting,  and  architecture  testify  to  this  conviction 
and  for  the  most  part  enrich  the  cultural  wealth 


1 68    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

of  the  state.  That  the  aesthetic  may  be  overdone 
and  hence  call  for  crude  reactions  to  discover 
human  values  has  been  indicated  above.  How- 
ever, when  aesthetics  does  not  divert  righteousness 
to  the  land  of  the  lotus  it  is  innocent,  and  when  it 
gives  fairer  fighting  form  to  a  just  cause  it  is 
dynamic.  Whatever  adornment  it  has  given  the 
state  in  times  when  democracy's  present  problems 
were  not  conscious  issues,  it  now  happens  that 
nothing  but  a  full  humanization  of  aesthetics  will 
satisfy  popular  judgment.  The  house  of  the  Lord 
should  be  decent;  so  should  the  homes  of  the  poor. 
Beautiful  lives  and  equality  of  opportunity  to 
realize  them  takes  precedence  over  beautiful 
buildings,  boulevards,  and  what  not,  whenever  the 
two  conflict.  An  equitable  distribution  of  wealth 
gives  some  promise  of  the  beautiful  life;  an  inequi- 
table distribution  has  too  often  been  the  foundation 
of  an  aesthetics  veering  toward  luxury  and  sug- 
gesting privilege.  The  church  must  discriminate. 
She  is  dedicated  to  beauty  of  life  and  in  this  is 
of  one  spirit  with  democracy.  Beauty  of  things 
engages  her  attention  only  as  means  to  this  end; 
and,  while  poverty,  disease,  and  other  unsubdued 
vandals  profane  and  wreck  the  human  temple, 
lavishness  is  forbidden  in  her  less  holy  enter- 
prise. The  sanctity  of  human  values  comes  first 
and  is  the  sole  condition  of  sanctifying  all  other 
means. 


Adults  in  the  Church  School         169 

This  brings  us  around  to  the  ever-recurring  fact 
that  nothing  can  take  the  place  of  righteousness. 
No  service  to  the  state  can  compare  with  the 
outspoken  demand  for  justice.  Let  this  fail,  and 
the  very  palliatives  of  religion  may  help  betray 
democracy.  The  "Get  right  with  God!"  gospel 
taken  alone  leads  to  self-deception  or  hypocrisy. 
How  can  anyone  know  conditions  at  the  unseen 
end  of  that  relationship?  "Do  right  by  man!" 
That  is  as  old  as  Micah.  "Treat  him  as  thyself!" 
It  is  very  ancient.  On  this  empirical  basis  one 
both  needs  and  dares  to  reach  out  after  the  Infinite. 
As  the  church  demands  justice  at  whatever  cost  to 
business  and  the  established  "system,"  she  will 
contribute  her  largest,  and  no  doubt  her  most 
sacrificial,  gift  to  democracy. 

QUESTIONS,  INVESTIGATIONS,  EXPERIMENTS 

1 .  What  are  the  most  democratic  features  of  church  life  ? 

2.  What  are  the  least  democratic  features  of  church  life  ? 

3.  What  practical  steps  could  be  taken  further  to  democ- 
ratize the  local  church  ? 

4.  Describe  in  detail  your  church  work  for  offenders. 

5.  Do  the  same  for  dependents. 

6.  For  public  health. 

7.  For  recreation. 

8.  For  education. 

9.  For  local  improvement. 

10.  For  social  justice  in  industry,  commerce,  and  finance. 

11.  With  what  private  welfare  agencies  does  your  church 
co-operate  ?    How  and  to  what  extent  in  each  case  ? 


lyo    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 

12.  With  what  governmental  agencies  does  your  church 
co-operate  ?    How  and  to  what  extent  in  each  case  ? 

13.  To  what  degree  is  church  federation  practiced  in  your 
community  ? 

14.  What  practical  tasks  call  for  further  federated  effort  ? 

15.  What  public  questions  have  been  discussed  in  the 
regular  meetings  of  the  church  or  in  the  meetings  of  its 
auxiUaries  during  the  past  six  months  ? 

16.  What  is  the  Forum  Movement?  (See  Democracy  in 
the  Making,  by  George  W.  Coleman.    Little,  Brown  &  Co.) 

17.  What  is  the  duty  of  church  people  with  respect  to 
poverty  ?  (See  Poverty  the  Challenge  to  the  Church,  by  J.  Sj 
Penman.     The  Pilgrim  Press.) 

18.  What  public  offices  are  held  by  members  of  your 
church  ? 

19.  What  percentage  of  your  enfranchised  members 
voted  at  the  last  election  ? 

20.  Has  any  survey  been  made  of  your  community? 
If  so,  what  use  is  being  made  of  it  ?  (See  The  Community 
Survey  in  Relation  to  Church  Efficiency,  by  Charles  E. 
Carroll.    The  Abingdon  Press.) 

21.  Work  out  a  civic  directory  to  be  posted  in  the  church 
building  for  the  use  of  church  people  and  to  cover  the 
following  items:  ambulances,  hospitals,  civic  bureaus, 
charities,  churches,  schools,  clubs,  courts  and  jails,  employ- 
ment bureaus,  police,  fire,  libraries,  dependent  institutions, 
improvement  associations,  social  settlements,  labor  unions, 
business  men's  clubs,  newspapers,  aldermen,  inspectors, 
health  officials,  playgrounds,  etc.,  as  the  case  may  require. 

22.  What  is  the  annual  budget  for  religion  in  your 
community  ? 

23.  What  for  education  and  for  recreation  ? 

24.  Give  five  reasons  for  your  adherence  to  democracy. 


Adults  in  the  Church  School         171 

25.  Write  a  paper  on  Old  Testament  Laws  relative  to 
land  tenure  or  to  the  treatment  of  slaves.  (See  Israel's 
Laws  and  Legal  Precedents,  by  C.  F.  Kent.  Charles  Scrib- 
ner's  Sons.  See  also  Social  Institutions  and  Ideals  of  the 
Bible,  by  T.  G.  Soares.     Abingdon  Press.) 

26.  What  sayings  and  deeds  of  Jesus  serve  as  moral 
dynamic  for  democracy  ? 

27.  Make  a  three  months'  civic  program  for  a  church 
discussion  club  composed  of  adults. 

READING  RECOMMENDED 

Abbott,  Grace.     The  Immigrant  and  the  Community. 
Cutting,  R.  F.     The  Church  and  Society. 
Hodges  and  Richert.     The  Institutional  Church. 
Peabody,  F.  G.     The  Religious  Education  of  an  American 

Citizen. 
Penman,  J.  S.     Poverty  the  Challenge  to  the  Church. 
Rauschenbusch,  W.     Christianizing  the  Social  Order. 
Strayer,  P.  M.     The  Reconstruction  of  the  Church. 
Ward,  H.  F.     Social  Creed  of  the  Churches. 
Williams,  Charles  D.     The  Christian  Ministry  and  Social 

Problems. 

Note. — The  religious  leader  or  teacher  will  find  the 
Survey,  112  East  19th  Street,  New  York  City,  the  best 
weekly  periodical  on  social  work.  The  information  which 
it  affords  on  current  problems  and  methods  and  on  the 
literature  and  agencies  of  social  amelioration  is  indispensable 
to  the  church  in  her  community  service. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Aesthetics,  43,  137,  167  f. 
Amusement,     commercialized, 

93,  114,  166 
Anti-Saloon  League,  150 
Arbor  Day,  117 
Athletics,  41,  75  ff. 

Bible,  a  rural  book,  107 
Biography,  65,  96. 
Boy  Scouts  of  America,  58  S. 
Boys,  Handbook  for,  57  ff. 
Boys'  Life,  65 

Camp  Fire  Girls,  67  ff. 

Cause  and  effect,  41  f. 

Child:  duties,  24;  in  the  coun- 
try, 127 

Children,  protection  of,  24,  90 

China,  19 

Choosing  a  vocation,  73 

Christian  ethics,  117 

Church:  democracy  in,  131, 
134  ff.,  140,  159,  169; 
grounds,   44;     rural,    103  ff. 

Citizenship,  elements  of  good, 

2,3 

Class:  distinction,  43, 121, 138, 

14s;  organized,  55 
Collective  living,  38 
Collective  sin,  13,  141 
Country  church,  103  ff. 
Country  minister,  105,  125 
County  fair,  117 
Criminal,  161  ff. 


Cromwell,  14 

Cuba,  19 

Current  Events  Club,  95 

Debate,  86  ff. 

Democracy,  7,  10;  in  play,  81; 
in  the  church,  131,  134  ff., 
140,  159,  169;  in  the  home, 
25 

Discipline,  56 

Dow,  Neal,  53 

Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  96 
Elwood,  Charles  A.,  quoted,  17 
Ethics,  Christian,  117 
Every  Boy's  Library,  66 

Festivals,  national,  24,  76,  117 
"Find  Yourself  Campaign,"  73 
Fire  department,  study  of,  34, 

74 
Fireman,  ^;^ 
Flag,  23,  60 
Forum,  148 

Fourth  of  July,  76,  117 
Franchise  service,  99 

Gang,  55 

Gardening,  39  ff. 

God  the  Creator,  107  f. 

Golden  Rule,  no 

Good  citizenship:  elements  of, 

2,3- 

Good  manners,  29,  30,  46,  59 
Gough,  John  B.,  53 


17s 


176    The  Church  School  of  Citizenship 


Government,  study  of,  86,  90, 

Grounds,  church,  44 

Halloween,  76,  117 
Handbook  for  Boys,  57  ff. 
Hay,  John,  19 

Health:  officer,  33;  public,  165 
Home,  25,  28,  66,  113,  116 

Idealism,  72,  114,  159 
Immigrant,  45, 97, 121  f.,  137  f. 
Individualism,  16,  27,  108 
Intellectual  reconstruction,  85 

Juvenile  delinquency,  163 

Kindergarten,  29 
Kindness,  62,  113 
Kingdom  of  God,  6,  8,  104,  133 

Labor  Day,  117 
Landlordism,  108 
Lane,  Franklin  K.,  quoted,  2 
Lessons    in    Community    and 

National  Life,  54 
Life  Questions  of  High-School 

Boys,  54 
Lincoln,  14,  117 

Majority,  attainment  of,  96,  99 
Manual  training,  42 
May  Day,  117 
Memorial  Day,  117 
Ministerial  training,  state  regu- 
lation of,  153  ff. 
Mischief,  27 
Mock  trial,  91 
Moral  order,  42 
Moving  pictures,  24,  88,  115 
Music,  92,  118,  136 


Nature  worship  of  children,  44 
Neighborliness,  114,  167 
New  Year's  Eve,  76,  117 

Obedience,  38,  78,  107,  112 
Old  Settlers'  Club,  119 
Organized  class,  55 
Our  America,  92 
Outlook  to  Nature,  126 

Pageant,  92,  118 

Pathological  treatment  of  civ- 
ics, 18 

Patriotism,  23,  58,  60,  70,  124 

Personal:  expense  account, 
73  f.;  ownership,  27;  piety, 
9ff. 

Philanthropy,  8  f.,  16,  26,  40, 
143,  166 

Piety,  personal,  9  ff. 

Policeman,  31  f.,  74 

Politics  as  vocation,  19 

Postman,  32 

Protection  of  children,  24,  90 

Public:  control  of  activities, 
15;  library,  127;  schools,  16, 
34  f.,  106,  117,  148,  160  f. 

Quarantine,  ^:i 

Race  prejudice,  45 

Red  Cross,  158 

Reverence,  22 

Roosevelt      Commission      on 

Country  Life,  124 
Rural:  church,  103  ff.;  life,  40, 

103  ff. 

Sacrifice,  37,  72 
St.  Patrick's  Day,  117 
St.  Valentine's  Day,  117 
Saloon,  76,  93,  133,  150,  166 


Index 


177 


Scout  masters,  66 
Scribner  Lesson  Series,  53  f. 
Sectarianism,  132,  139,  160 
Self-government,  55  f. 
Self-inventory,  73 
Sentimentalism,  95 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  112 
Shaftesbury,  Earl  of,  96 
Sin,  collective,  13,  141 
Slumming,  94 
Social  service,  95 
Soldierly  virtues,  38 
Street,  31,  35 
Summer  program,  39 
Sunday-school  lessons,  21,  22, 

53 
Survey,  community,  93  f.,  121 
Symbols,  23 

Taft,  William  H.,  quoted,  30 
Taxation,  99 


Temperance,  22 
Tenant,  108 

Thanksgiving  Day,  40,  117 
Thrift,  36,  38,  63,  69 

Vilai  lampada,  quoted,  81  f. 
Vocational  interest,  40,  70  f. 
Vote,  96 

War,  37 

Washington,  Booker  T.,  14 
Washington's  Birthday,  117 
Waste,  36,  43,  70,  74 
Wind  and  Weather,  126 
Women's  clubs,  114,  147 
World:  brotherhood,  125,  158; 
peace,  19 

Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, 158 
Youth,  14,  S3  ff-,  144 


